Complete Release in PDF Format
Oct. 28, 2010
THIS WEEK —The University of Iowa men’s tennis team will finish their fall season with a trip to East Lansing, Mich., for the Big Ten Singles. Play will begin Friday morning and conclude on Sunday.
HAWKEYE COMPETITORS —Will Vasos, Austen Kauss, Nikita Zotov, Mitch Beckert, Garrett Dunn, and Jonas Dierckx will compete for the Hawkeyes in Flight A singles, while Chase Tomlins, Jeroen Gortworst, Connor Gilmore, and Joey White will play in Flight B. All will be in doubles action as well.
LAST TIME OUT —Austen Kauss and Will Vasos lead Iowa at the ITA Central Regionals, opening the main draw doubles bracket with two consecutive victories to reach the quarterfinals. Kauss and Bruche also lead Iowa in singles play, earning a victory in the main draw to advance past round one. The victory also gave Bruche five consecutive singles wins. Iowa finished the tournament with six singles victories as a team.
BRUCHE WINS NORTHWESTERN INVITE —Junior Marc Bruche went 4-0 from Oct. 15-17th at the Northwestern Invitational, claiming the Flight A Championship. Bruche opened with a victory on Friday, and two victories Saturday to reach the finals. In the finals match, Bruche defeated Northwestern’s Sidarth Balaji 7-6 (2), 7-5 to bring home the title. It was the first tournament victory this fall season for Bruche, who owns an 8-2 record at the No. 1 singles position.
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.
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.
HOUGHTON ON BIG TEN SINGLES —“This is the last event of the season, and we’re hoping to finish up strong. This should be a building block for us heading into the spring semester.”