Sept. 16, 2010
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THIS WEEK
The University of Iowa men’s tennis team travels to West Lafayette, IN, this weekend to compete at the Purdue Fall Invitational at the Schwartz Tennis Center for the first action in fall play. Play will begin Friday and conclude Sunday with three flights of singles and two flights of doubles.
HAWKEYE COMPETITORS
Marc Bruche, Will Vasos, Nikita Zotov, Austen Kauss, Jonas Dierckx, Jeroen Gortworst, Joey White and Michael Swank will all travel to West Lafayette to compete in the invite this weekend.
HAWKEYE NEWCOMERS
The Hawkeyes will have four freshmen on the roster this season. Houghton received two international commitments from Jonas Dierckx, out of Belgium, and Jeroen Gortworst from the Netherlands. Chase Tomlins, from Tulsa, Oklahoma, and Michael Swank of Lawrence, Kansas, round out the newcomers.
GOING STRONG
The Hawkeyes finished 13-10 overall and 4-6 in Big Ten Conference play in 2010, marking the third consecutive year Iowa has finished with at least 12 victories. Iowa was ranked 60th nationally in the final ITA Division I poll and earned a No. 48 ranking at one point in the season. As a team, Iowa defeated three ranked opponents. Iowa knocked off Purdue in the first round of the Big Ten Tournament before falling to second-seeded Illinois. Back from last year’s starting arsenal will be junior Marc Bruche (11-11) senior Austen Kauss (13-6), junior Tom Mroziewicz (2-2), junior Will Vasos (15-9) and senior Nikita Zotov (5-19).
HEAD COACH Steve Houghton
Steve Houghton, the dean of Big Ten tennis coaches, is in his 30th year as head coach of the Hawkeyes. He has compiled a career record of 323-328 (.496), recording the most wins of any coach in Iowa men’s tennis history. Houghton recorded his 300th win at Indiana State Feb. 6, 2009. His best season came in 1984 when Iowa won a school-record 21 matches and two Hawkeyes earned all-Big Ten honors. Four of Houghton’s athletes have also been selected Big Ten Sportsman of the Year. He became the winningest coach in Iowa tennis history in 1992 and is a member of the Iowa Tennis Hall of Fame. While playing at Iowa, Houghton had a career winning percentage of .727 (40-15), second best in Iowa history.
HOUGHTON ON GETTING STARTED
“There’s a variety of teams playing in this tournament, and it should provide a strong challenge. It’ll be interesting, especially for our freshmen. We are anxious to get underway.”