Feb. 23, 2004
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This Week: The Iowa men’s tennis team will travel to Des Moines, IA, Thursday for an intrastate dual with Drake. Competition is scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. at the Drake Tennis Center.
The Bulldogs: Drake is 4-3 after wins over DePaul and Gustavus Adophus last weekend. The Bulldogs are led in singles competition by seniors Felipe Montenegro, Anthony Perkins and junior Jack Frankowicz. Perkins and junior Matt McClure are Drake’s top doubles team. Head Coach Jay Udwadia is in his first season after previously serving four years as an assistant coach at Northwestern.
Iowa-Drake Series: Iowa leads the series 22-4. Last year the Hawkeyes defeated Drake (4-3) in Iowa City. Iowa lost the doubles point but came back to win four-of-six singles contests.
Hoak Homecoming: The Drake meet will be a homecoming for freshman Jonny Hoak. The Des Moines native competed as a freshman at Dowling High School where he was crowned the Class 2A state singles champion. Hoak then transferred and competed three years at Old Avon Farms Prep School (CT).
Hawkeyes On a Roll: Iowa is currently on a three-meet winning streak after wins over Marquette and Indiana State last weekend. The Hawkeyes were nearly flawless in their win over the Golden Eagles, going a combined 8-9 in singles and doubles competition. Against the Sycamores, Iowa claimed the doubles point and won four-of-six singles matches.
Dual Savior: The return of sophomore Parker Ross has proved important as the Hawkeyes have recorded victories in all three duals he has competed in. Not only has Ross been a perfect 6-0 in singles and doubles action, he has recorded meet point with a win in the No. 3 singles position in all three of Iowa’s victories.
Doubles Dominance: Iowa experimented with its doubles lineup last weekend and it proved to be flawless. Iowa swept the competition to record its first doubles points of the season in wins over Marquette and Indiana State. Freshman Sebastian Delgado and Parker Ross are currently 3-0 as Iowa’s top doubles team. Sophomore Chaitu Malempati and freshman Walter Valarezo are 2-0 at the No. 2 spot and freshmen Jonny Hoak and Aaron Schaechterle are 2-0 as Iowa’s No. 3 team.
Perfect Weekend: Sebastian Delgado, Parker Ross, Jonny Hoak and Aaron Schaechterle went undefeated in both singles and doubles competition in wins over Marquette and Indiana State.
Young No. 1: Sophomore Chaitu Malempati has played the No. 1 singles position in all six of Iowa’s duals this season. At 19, he is the youngest Hawkeye to play in Iowa’s top position since Tyler Cleveland competed at No. 1 as a 19-year-old freshman in 1998.
Head Coach: Steve Houghton, the dean of Big Ten tennis coaches, is in his 23rd season as head coach of the Hawkeyes. Houghton has a career record of 261-246 (.515). He became the winningest coach in Iowa tennis history in 1992 and is a member of the Iowa Tennis Hall of Fame. He has coached 15 players to 29 all-Big Ten selections including Tyler Cleveland, who became the first men’s player in Big Ten history to be named Big Ten Player of the Year twice. Four of Houghton’s athletes have also been selected Big Ten Sportsman of the Year.
Quoting Houghton: “This rivarly has always been close and I look for the same thing this week. We just have to continue to improve and build off last weekend’s success.”