March 7, 2005
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THIS WEEK — The Iowa men’s tennis team will travel to Minneapolis, MN to compete against Minnesota. Competition will begin at 6:30 p.m. at the Baseline Tennis Center this Friday.
SCOUTING MINNESOTA– The Golden Gophers have a 2-7 record this season against a very strong schedule. All seven of their losses this season have come at the hands of teams ranked in the top 60. They currently are ranked #51 and this will be their first Big Ten dual meet of the season. In their last competition they were defeated by #9 ranked Texas A&M (5-2). The Hawkeyes were defeated by Minnesota last season (5-2). Minnesota leads the all-time series (55-30-2).
REMAINING PERFECT — Junior Aaron Schaechterle and freshman J.P. Ritchie continued their perfect season in doubles play again this week. The duo walked away with a pair of victories against Wisconsin and Drake. Their season record is now up to 9-0.
ON THE LINE — Freshman Bart van Monsjou picked up a huge victory in singles play last Saturday against Wisconsin. van Monsjou defeated Felipe Bellido (6-3, 5-7, 6-4) in the final match of the competition. van Monsjou rallied back in the third set with all eyes on him and the victory on the line for the Hawkeyes. He came up with a huge win for himself personally as well as for the team. He also added a key victory in doubles play along side junior Chaitu Malempati. van Monsjou carries the teams second best singles record (7-2) while competing all season at the No. 4 spot.
LAST WEEK — The Hawkeyes picked up a pair of victories. Iowa defeated intrastate rival Drake, 6-1. They followed up that victory with another win at home against Wisconsin. The Hawkeyes defeated Wisconsin 4-3, for their first Big Ten conference victory of the season. With the Hawkeyes two victories they improved their record to 8-1 (1-0 Big Ten).
HEAD COACH, Steve Houghton — Steve Houhgton is the dean of Big Ten tennis coaches and is in his 24th season as head coach of the Hawkeyes. Houghton has a career record of 269-261 (.508). 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.