Hawkeyes Fall In First Round of Conference Tourney

Apr. 24, 2003

The eighth-seeded Iowa women’s tennis team (7-13 Overall, 5-6Big Ten) fell to ninth-seeded Penn State, 4-3, in the first round of the Big Ten Championships.Competition was held at the Atkins Tennis Center on the University of Illinois’ campus.

The Hawkeyes had a similar match with the Nittany Lions as they had last weekend inIowa City, but this time could not pull out the victory when the match came down to the No. 6singles match. Iowa lost all three doubles matches to go down 1-0. Senior Steffi Hoch andsophomore Gloria Okino lost to Penn State’s Maaria Husain and Leigh Ann Merryman at theNo. 1 position (8-5), while juniors Cassie Haas and Deni Alexandrova fell to Megan Martonand Judy Wang at the No. 2 spot (8-6). Junior Jennifer Hodgman and freshman Chelsea Glynnlost in a tiebreaker to Penn State’s Lindsay Downing and Sarah Spence (8-8 (4-2)).

Singles competition was evenly matched with both teams recording three victories. Iowawon at the Nos. 1, 2 and 4 positions, but could not claim a fourth win for the team victory. Hochcontinued her recent dominance, winning her eighth match out of her last 10. She defeatedMarton 7-5, 6-2 at the No. 1 position. Haas followed with a 7-6, 6-4 win over Merryman at No.2. Okino dropped her match to Husain at No. 3 (7-6, 6-2), but Glynn recorded a win over Wangat No. 4 to keep the Hawkeyes in the hunt (7-6 (1), 6-4). Alexandrova fell to Downing at theNo. 5 position (7-6 (6), 6-1), which brought the match down to the only three-set match of theday. Hodgman could not copy her win over Spence last weekend and lost by a score of 4-6, 6-3,6-0.

Iowa finishes the season with a 7-13 overall record and a 5-6 mark in the Big Ten.

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