Feb. 25, 2008
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- 24 Hawkeyes to Watch
- gohawks.com
- Big Ten Network: Free Hawkeye Video
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THIS WEEK — The No. 68 University of Iowa men’s tennis team (5-1 overall, 1-0 Big Ten) will play at No. 52 Drake Wednesday. The match is scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. at the Drake Tennis Center in Des Moines. Also, the Hawkeyes will host DePaul Sunday at 3 p.m.
SCOUTING DRAKE — Drake, 10-0 overall, has won 30 straight regular season matches and 40 straight matches at home. In addition, the Bulldogs are the defending MVC regular season and tournament champions. They are coached by Chase Hodges.
SCOUTING DEPAUL — DePaul, 6-5 overall and 1-0 in Big East Conference play, was recently beaten by Drake, 5-2. They are coached by Matt Brothers. Brothers, in his first year as head coach, previously was an assistant at Iowa for six years under Steve Houghton.
THE SERIES — The Hawkeyes lead the Bulldogs 23-7. In addition, Iowa holds the advantage over DePaul, 6-1. Last season the Hawkeyes split against the two, defeating DePaul 5-2 and falling to Drake 4-3.
LAST TIME OUT — Iowa defeated its third ranked opponent of the year Saturday. The Hawkeyes won at No. 65 Western Michigan, 4-3.
IN THE RANKINGS — In men’s singles rankings, senior Bart van Monsjou is No. 93 and in team rankings Iowa is No. 68. Rankings are produced by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA). They are released every Wednesday and can be found at collegetennisonline.com.
BIG TEN TOURNAMENT — The University of Iowa will be hosting this year’s Big Ten Tournament, April 24-27. The tournament will be held at the Hawkeye Tennis and Recreation Complex (indoor) and the Klotz Outdoor Courts.
HEAD COACH Steve Houghton — Steve Houghton, the dean of Big Ten tennis coaches, is in his 27th season as head coach of the Hawkeyes. Houghton has a career record of 285-299 (.488). 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), second best in Iowa history.
QUOTING COACH HOUGHTON — “Our matches with Drake have always been battles and this year should be the same. Drake has a very strong team and is particularly tough at home. DePaul is also very good. One of the interesting sidelights will be competing against our former assistant, Matt Brothers, who is now the head coach.”
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