Jan. 18, 2011
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THIS WEEK
The University of Iowa women’s tennis team will face Northern Iowa Saturday in their first dual match of the season. Play will begin at 12 p.m. (CT) at the Black Hawk Tennis Club.
QUOTING COACH Katie Dougherty
“We’re excited to start the season this weekend. We competed with high level teams this past weekend and got an idea of where we are and where we need to be. UNI is a dangerous team and we’ll be ready to battle.”
THE COMPETITION
Saturday’s match will be UNI’s first action of the spring. The Panthers are unranked as a team, but have three doubles team ranked in the ITA top 90. UNI competed in two events during the fall schedule, the Drake Invitational and the UNI Invitational. Iowa also competed at the UNI Invite. The Black and Gold dominated the event, winning two singles and one doubles bracket.
THE LINEUP
All eight Hawkeyes on the roster will compete.
LAST TIME OUT
Iowa opened its season at the FSU Seminole Invitational Jan. 15-16. Senior Jessica Young led the Hawkeyes at the event, posting a 2-0 record and finishing in a second place tie. Young’s first victory came against Florida State’s Katie Rybakova, the No. 42 player in the country. The Seaholm High alum overcame a 9-5 deficit in the third-set tiebreaker to win 6-4, 0-6, 13-11. She also posted a 6-4, 6-3 victory over Alexis Rodriguez of Central Florida. Freshman Jessica Cohen also posted a notable victory, beating FSU’s Manon Feldman 7-5, 7-5 in her first match in a Hawkeye uniform. A third day was scheduled but was cancelled due to rain.
IOWA RANKED IN FIRST ITA POLL
The Black and Gold appeared at No. 30 in the ITA’s initial rankings. Junior Sonja Molnar was tabbed No. 70 in the Division I singles poll. It was the second straight year Molnar appeared in the top 75 to open the season. Molnar also was ranked in the Division I doubles poll. She and teammate Lynne Poggensee-Wei were ranked No.55.
HEAD COACH Katie Dougherty
Head Coach Katie Dougherty is in her second season at the helm of the women’s tennis team. The Wisconsin alum guided the Black and Gold to new heights in 2010, reaching as high as 18th in the ITA national rankings, the best in program history. The Hawkeyes finished 2010 with a 17-7 overall record and a 6-4 Big Ten record. Iowa placed fourth in the conference and advanced to NCAA postseason competition.