March 30, 2010
- Iowa and the Big Ten Network
- Big Ten Network: Free Hawkeye Video
- 24 Hawkeyes to Watch (2009-10 season)
- Download your Iowa Hawkeye iPhone app!
THIS WEEK
The 26th-ranked University of Iowa women’s tennis team travels to Penn State for a match Friday night, scheduled to start at 4 p.m. Iowa will then head to Ohio State for a 10 a.m. match Sunday.
THE COMPETITION
The first stop on Iowa’s trip is University Park, PA, to face the Nittany Lions. Penn State is lead by third-year Head Coach Dawna Prevette. The team is 4-10 overall and 0-2 in conference play.
Ohio State is 14-4 overall and 1-1 in conference play. Head Coach Chuck Merzbacher is in his 13th season with the Buckeyes. Ohio State is ranked 25th by the ITA.
POGGENSEE-WEI LEADS IOWA TO VICTORY
Lynne Poggensee-Wei showed tremendous effort in Sunday’s match against Michigan State. The team score was tied at 3-3 and it all came down to her match against Nicole Herzog. The junior struggled in the first and second sets, losing the first, 4-6, but holding on in the second, 6-2, to force the third set.
Her opponent took a big lead right off the bat, going up 4-1. Poggensee-Wei was not detered, however, and battled back to take the lead 5-4. The excitement continued to build as the Spartan competitor scored her fifth and sixth points consecutively, only to be countered by the Hawkeye. With the score tied at six, the match was set to be determined by the tie-break.
Poggensee-Wei never looked back once they hit the courts, scoring the first three points before dropping one. The Hawkeye pulled through to win the tie-breaker, 7-2, and take the victory for the Black and Gold.
BIG TEN IN NATIONAL RANKINGS
The Big Ten Conference is full of high quality competition. Seven of the teams in the conference are currently nationally ranked, with six of those claiming spots in the top 50 in the country.
Northwestern leads the pack at fourth with Michigan following closely at eighth. The Buckeyes of Ohio State are 25th with Iowa claiming the 26th position. Illinois and Purdue round out the top 50 in the 37th and 42nd positions, respectively, while Minnesota sits at 56th. The rankings are based on the Intercollegiate Tennis Association publication on March 30th.
IOWA TENNIS BLOG
Iowa tennis fans will be able to follow members of the Hawkeye tennis team as they blog about the 2010 season. The Iowa student-athletes will discuss the Hawkeyes’ upcoming matches, road trips and what it’s like being a student-athlete at the University of Iowa.
UP NEXT
The Hawkeyes welcome Illinois and Indiana to Iowa City April 10-11. Both matches are scheduled to begin at 11 a.m. at the Hawkeye Tennis and Recreation Complex.