March 23, 2009
IOWA CITY —
THIS WEEK — The Iowa women’s tennis team (7-7, 2-1 Big Ten) will host two Big Ten opponents at the Hawkeye Tennis and Recreation Complex in Iowa City. The Hawkeyes will face No. 35 Ohio State (8-6, 2-0 Big Ten) Friday at 3 p.m., and Penn State (3-11, 0-2 Big Ten) Sunday at 11 a.m. Admission is free to both matches.
IN THE SERIES — Iowa holds a 22-15 edge in the series with Ohio State, while also holding the lead in the series with Penn State, 20-2. Ohio State a won the last meeting with Iowa in 2008 (4-3), while the Hawkeyes defeated Penn State in 2008 (5-2).
MOLNAR EARNS NATIONAL RANKING — Hawkeye freshman Sonja Molnar has used her 10-2 singles record to earn a spot in the ITA NCAA Division I Women’s singles rankings. The Guelph, Ontario, native made her first appearance in the top 125 poll Feb. 19, earning a No. 98 ranking. She rose as high as 75th in the March 3 poll, and is currently ranked 92nd in the March 17 poll.
LAST COMPETITION — Iowa went 1-1 last weekend, winning a 4-3 victory at Michigan State Saturday and losing a 6-1 match at No. 19 Michigan Sunday. Against Michigan State, the solo doubles win came from Sonja Molnar and Jessica Young (8-4) at the No. 1 position. The Hawkeyes headed into singles competition down 1-0, but Iowa went on to win 4 of the 6 singles matches to take the victory. Sunday, Molnar grabbed her 12th singles win of the season at the No. 1 position, after upsetting # 59 Chisako Sugiyama of Michigan in the only singles win of the day for Iowa.
HEAD COACH Daryl Greenan — Coach Daryl Greenan is in his fifth season as head coach of the Hawkeyes. Greenan led the Hawkeyes to a 13-10 overall record in 2008, going 3-7 in Big Ten competition tying for a sixth place league finish. The 2006 Big Ten Coach of the Year, Greenan has a 63-43 overall record in five seasons at Iowa. He is 104-68 in eight seasons as a collegiate head coach. Mira Radu is the assistant coach and is in her first season with the Hawkeyes. She volunteered as an assistant coach at the University of Mississippi (2003-2006) following her membership on the tennis team (1999-2003).
UP NEXT — Iowa will take another Big Ten road trip, traveling to Bloomington, IN, to face No. 34 Indiana April 4 at 11 a.m. at the IU Tennis Center. The Hawkeyes will then face No. 32 Illinois April 5 at 12 p.m. at the Atkins Tennis Center in Champaign, IL.
QUOTING COACH GREENAN — “I hope we can continue the progress we have been making this season. The Big Ten is tough from top to bottom this year and every match is a big one for us. The team is playing with better focus and intensity every weekend and they will need to carry that into our match against Ohio State on Friday.”