Feb. 13, 2006
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THIS WEEK — The University of Iowa men’s tennis team will travel to Chicago to face the DePaul Blue Demons Sunday. The meet will begin at 11 a.m. at the Lakeshore Athletic Club.
SCOUTING DEPAUL — Last weekend, DePaul defeated Illinois State and Bradley to improve to 3-5. They were swept by Big Ten teams Northwestern and Wisconsin earlier this season. They are led by Gabe Inchauste playing the No. 1 spot in singles and George Wang at the No. 2 spot. DePaul will host Valparaiso on Saturday. The Blue Demons are coached by Mark Ardizzone.
THE SERIES — The Hawkeyes lead the series 4-1. Last year, Iowa defeated DePaul, 7-0, in Iowa City.
LAST TIME OUT — The Hawkeyes hosted competition against Cleveland State and Wisconsin-Green Bay last weekend. They won both meets, 7-0. Freshman Christian Bierich played his first match at No. 1 this weekend against Cleveland State. He won that match and improved to 2-2. Sophomore Bart van Monsjou has been playing at the No. 1 spot for most of the matches and is 2-1. The No.1 doubles team of sophomore J.P. Ritchie and senior Brett Taylor are 3-1 on the season.
HEAD COACH Steve Houghton — Steve Houghton, the dean of Big Ten tennis coaches, is in his 25th season as head coach of the Hawkeyes. Houghton has a career record of 270-270 (.500). His best season came in 1984 when Iowa won a school record 21 matches and two Hawkeyes earned all-Big Ten honors. Four of Houghton’s athletes have also been selected Big Ten Sportsman of the Year. He became the winningest coach in Iowa tennis history in 1992 and is a member of the Iowa Tennis Hall of Fame. While playing at Iowa, Houghton had a career winning percentage of .727 (40-15), the second best in Iowa History.
QUOTING COACH HOUGHTON — “I expect DePaul to be strong competition and tough on its home court. This will be a good test since it’s one of our last matches before we begin Big Ten competition.”