Road Warriors Dominate Women's Tennis Blog

April 8, 2010

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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. Sophomore Sonja Molnar is this week’s designated blogger.

IOWA CITY, IA – Hi Hawkeye Fans!

This past weekend we travelled to Penn State and Ohio State. Although we have been doing extremely well, we knew that both teams were going to give us a battle. With that in mind we practiced all week keeping in mind our goal to come out with two Big Ten W’s (wins)!!!

Thursday was the start of our long travelling weekend. First we drove to Moline and then took a flight to Detroit. Jess obviously wished that we could have had a longer layover in order to go home and see her family and friends. Unfortunately for her, and fortunately for the rest of the team the layover wasn’t long and we were on our second flight to State College. When we got there we were all ready to get to the hotel to unwind for the night. Coach’s intuition took over and she was in charge of finding our hotel (without our not always reliable GPS, Felicia). We arrived! Got our bags out, and opps… We were at the Hampton Inn, but not the Hampton Inn that we were booked at, so back in the vans we went. The second time around was more successful, Coach’s intuition (or should I say directions from the previous hotel) got us to our correct hotel. And off to sleep we went…ZZZ!!

Friday was the day, the day we were waiting for all week, the day we defeated Penn State. The Hawkeyes overtook the Nittany Lions! First in doubles, Lynne and Lexi cruised over Penn State’s Lotto and Stracer with a score of 8-1. Next, Merel and I won against Simidian and Prishlayk, 8-4. We won the doubles point…YAY!! Unfortunately Jess and Kelc didn’t quite pull it out, but fought extremely well, barely falling 8-6. Singles Time! First off was Merel, who dominated her opponent 6-2, 6-1! Way to go Merel! Keeping with the momentum, Kelcie, Jess, Lexi, and I all won our matches. “IOWA…HAWKEYES!! Black…GOLD!! SOIL…CORN!!” was what all of PSU’s fans heard. We were cheering for Lynne who was in a third set, super tie breaker. Unfortunately PSU’s Lauren McCarthy beat Lynne 10-7… Booo. But it was ok; we still defeated Penn State 6-1! Go Hawks!

Beep Beep Beep, went everyone’s alarm on Saturday at 4.45AM…yes, AM! We were off to the airport once again. This time travelling from State College to Detroit again, and then to Columbus, Ohio. We didn’t have to play Saturday; instead we practiced, did homework and maybe had a little Easter egg hunt. We got to the outdoor courts, but what, they were locked, no way! But don’t fret, we were all skinny enough to fit through the fence and just threw our bags and the balls over it. We began practicing outside, until the tornado came (not really a tornado, but it felt like it), so we resumed practice at Ohio State’s indoor facility.

After practice we went to the hotel, some people slept and others did homework. Obviously we are were hungry and in need of food so we went to have dinner, it was awesome! Thanks Coach! After dinner we had a team meeting. Many important issues were discussed, and then what?! An Easter egg hunt, no way! There were 21 eggs, and one egg had a note in it and a secret task, that if completed resulted in the grand prize! As you all know we are an extremely competitive team, which meant it was WAR! I ended up finding the most eggs, 7 (possibility because I have the most practice at it, still having Easter egg hunts every year…people always say don’t try and grow up too fast). We all opened our eggs, some had chocolate, some had candy, others wheat thins (healthy, obviously), and others had little “creepy chicks”. I also found the special note, which indicated that I had to tell a fun fact about every one of my teammates… The rest of the night was left to mentally prepare for our match in the morning. ZZZ

“Sunday morning rain is falling” Maroon 5. But in all seriousness it was a beautiful day and good things were about to happen. We were facing Ohio State who was ranked 25. We were the underdogs, ranked just one spot behind them (26). In doubles, Lynne and Lexi once again won, and Merel and I also won, securing the doubles point. In singles Kelcie and Lexi were quick to defeat their opponents. Jess had a tough match, which ultimately she lost. We were up 3-1. Lynne, Merel and I were all in third-setters. “When the going gets tough, the tough get going”, this is exactly what all three of us did. We all successfully won our third sets resulting in Iowa defeating Ohio State 6-1! Woot! Congrats girls! Due to our long matches, we did not have much time to celebrate before heading to the airport. Rather, we showered and were on the road again. Two flights later and a drive from Moline, we were back in Iowa City. And once again, back to sleep…ZZZ!!

We host Illinois and Indiana this weekend. Come out, watch and cheer really loud. We play Illinois Saturday at 11 a.m. and Indiana Sunday at 11 a.m.. Let’s get two more Big Ten W’s this weekend! Go Hawks!

Click HERE to check out past entries to the Official Iowa Women’s Tennis Blog.