March 23, 2004
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This Week: The Iowa men’s tennis team will host Purdue Saturday at 10 a.m. on the Klotz Tennis Courts. In the event of inclement weather, the match will be moved indoors to the Recreation Building. Admission is free.
The Boilermakers: Purdue is currently 5-6 after losses to San Diego, Princeton and Oklahoma State last week. The Boilermakers are led in singles competition by sophomore Paul Rose, brother of former Iowa tennis player Pete Rose, senior Troy Havens and junior David Robinson. Havens and Robinson are also the Boilermakers’ top doubles team. Purdue is coached by Tim Madden.
Iowa-Purdue Series: Iowa leads the series 31-25. Last year the Hawkeyes lost (6-1) at West Lafayette. Iowa was unable to claim the doubles point and only took one of six singles matches.
Hawkeyes Drop Three in Alabama: Iowa faced tough competition during its spring trip with losses to New Orleans (6-1), 47th-ranked South Alabama (7-0) and Troy State (4-3). Injuries proved to be a factor as Iowa was forced to shuffle its singles and doubles lineup in each match.
Schaechterle Leads in Wins: Sophomore Aaron Schaechterle recorded his fourth dual singles victory of the year in Iowa’s match with Troy State. His four dual victories and nine combined fall and spring victories rank best on the team. Schaechterle also has a team-best eight doubles victories combined in both fall and spring action.
Elwell and Jasicek Step Into Action: After seeing limited action at the beginning of the season, freshman Scott Elwell and senior Matis Jasicek have stepped forward in both the singles and doubles lineup. Elwell played at No. 2, No. 5 and No. 6 singles positions during Iowa’s spring trip and recorded his first dual win against New Orleans’ Saif Ali. He also competed at the No. 1 and No. 2 doubles positions. Jasicek played at No. 5 and No. 6 singles and No. 3 doubles positions. He recorded his first dual win of the season over Troy State’s Clayton Langheim. Jasicek also teamed with Aaron Schaechterle to record a doubles victory over Langheim and Charles van Swelm.
Ross Dismissed From Team: Sophomore Parker Ross has been dismissed from the team for disciplinary reasons. This year Ross posted an overall record of 7-7, including a 3-2 dual record while playing at the No. 2 and No. 3 singles positions. He also went 7-6 in doubles competition with a 3-2 record at the No. 1 spot. He finishes his career 18-25 overall in singles and 15-22 in doubles.
Young No. 1: Sophomore Chaitu Malempati has played the No. 1 singles position in all 11 of Iowa’s duals this season. At 19, he is the youngest Hawkeye to play in the 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 261-251 (.510). 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: “Purdue is a very strong Big Ten team. We are still not healthy. We are going to have to play our best match of the season to be successful.”