Sept. 30, 2010
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THIS WEEK — The University of Iowa men’s tennis team travels to Tulsa, Oklahoma, for the ITA All-American Tournament. The tournament will be in a single elimination format.
HAWKEYE COMPETITORS — Marc Bruche, Nikita Zotov, Will Vasos, and Austen Kauss will compete for Iowa this week. Each player will be in the prequalifying bracket.
OUT OF THE GATES — Iowa opened their fall season Sept. 17-19 at the Purdue Fall Invitational. The Hawkeyes went 12-12 in singles play and 5-5 in doubles play overall.
VETERANS START OFF HOT — Junior Marc Bruche won his first three singles matches for Iowa, making it all the way to the semifinals in Flight A. Senior Austen Kauss had a succesful tournament as well, winning three matches in a row to reach the Flight A consolation finals match.
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 ITA TOURNEY — “It’s going to be a strong test. This is a top national tournament with all the best players there, so it will be a great opportunity for our guys to pick up some significant victories.”