Hawkeyes Hit The Road For Last Two Regular Season Matches

April 16, 2008

IOWA CITY, IA — THIS WEEK — The Iowa Women’s tennis team will wrap up regular season play this weekend, traveling to face two Big Ten opponents. The Hawkeyes travel to West Lafayette, IN Saturday to face Purdue. Competition is scheduled to begin at noon and will take place at the Schwartz Tennis Center. Sunday, Iowa will travel to Champaign, IL for a match against Illinois. Competition is scheduled to begin at 11 a.m. at the Atkins Tennis Center. The Hawkeyes are currently 11-8, 2-6 in the Big Ten this season.

THE HAWKEYES — Iowa is currently ranked 56th 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, ranked 82nd nationally, leads the Hawkeyes with a 24-5 overall singles record. The duo of Lee/Dorr is currently Iowa’s most successful doubles team, with an 18-11 record.

THE COMPETITION — Purdue is currently unranked. The Boilermakers are 4-14, 2-6 in conference play this season. Illinois is ranked 55th with a 9-9, 5-3 record. The Fighting Illini scored a big upset last weekend by beating No. 33 Ohio State 5-2.

LAST WEEK — The Hawkeyes played their final home matches of the season last weekend, hosting No. 1 Northwestern for Senior Day and Wisconsin the next day. Iowa put up a tough fight against top-ranked Northwestern, nearly winning at the first, second and third singles positions against three of the top 25-ranked players in the country. The highlight of the weekend was Senior Mili Veselinovic’s win over the fifth-ranked player in the nation, Northwestern’s Georgia Rose. Veselinovic earned one of the biggest victories of her career and Iowa’s only point of the match in defeating Rose 3-6, 6-1, 7-6 (8-6). Iowa concluded weekend play by losing 6-1 to the Wisconsin Badgers.

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 11-8 in dual match play, and is 2-6 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 111 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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