Big Weekend Ahead For Hawkeyes

April 9, 2008

IOWA CITY, IA

THIS WEEK — The Iowa Women’s tennis team will spend the weekend at home, hosting two Big Ten opponents. The Hawkeyes will host Northwestern on Saturday and Wisconsin Sunday. Both matches are scheduled to begin at 11 a.m. at the Hawkeye Tennis and Recreation Complex.

THE HAWKEYES — Iowa is currently ranked 47th in the FILA Collegiate Tennis Rankings. Competing for the Hawkeyes this week will be Jennifer Barnes, Merel Beelen, Kayla Berry, Kelcie Klockenga, Jacqueline Lee, Mili Veselinovic, Jessica Young, Lynne Poggensee-Wei, and Alexis Dorr. Veselinovic leads the Hawkeyes with a 22-5 overall singles record. The duo of Lee/Dorr is currently Iowa’s most successful doubles team, with a 17-10 record.

THE COMPETITION — Northwestern is currently the top-ranked team in the country. The Wildcats are 19-1, 7-0 in the Big Ten this season and have won 13consecutive matches. Northwestern has four ranked players and two ranked doubles pairs. Freshman Maria Mosolova is ranked third and is Northwestern’s highest ranked singles player. Junior Georgia Rose is ranked fifth, sophomore Samantha Murray is 25th, and sophomore Lauren Lui is 42nd. Lui and Murray sit at No. 13 in the doubles rankings, and the duo of Lui and Rose is ranked 14th. Wisconsin is unranked. The Badgers are 7-12, 0-7 in the Big Ten.

LAST WEEK — The Hawkeyes lost to No. 16 Notre Dame (6-1) Friday evening. A highlight of the match was Veselinovic’s 7-6 (9-7),7-6 (7-5) victory at the number two singles position over Brook Buck. Iowa traveled to East Lansing, MI Sunday to face Big Ten opponent Michigan State. After an intense match, Iowa fell in a 4-3 upset to the 59th-ranked Spartans. Veselinovic and Berry won the last two singles matches for Iowa.

THIS SEASON — Iowa opened its 2008 spring season by dominating the Hawkeye Invitational against Drake, Iowa State, and Northern Iowa, ending the tournament with a 27-2 record. Lee was named co-Big Ten Athlete of the Week Jan. 20 after an outstanding performance at the Hawkeye Invitational. Iowa has since gone 11-6 in dual match play, and is 2-4 in conference play. Senior Mili Veselinovic started the season off with a 13-match winning streak and broke the Iowa school record for career singles wins. Veselinovic currently boasts 109 career singles wins and is on track to break the Iowa school record for most singles wins as a senior.

HEAD COACH Daryl Greenan — Coach Daryl Greenan is in his fourth season as head coach of the Hawkeyes. Greenan led the Hawkeyes to a 12-10 overall record in 2007, going 7-3 in Big Ten competition for a fourth place league finish. Greenan was named 2006 Big Ten Coach of the Year. Greenan has a 44-26 overall record in three seasons at Iowa. Toni Neykova is the assistant coach and is in her sixth season with the Hawkeyes. She is a former member of the Hawkeye tennis team (1999-2002).

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