Important Match in Store for No. 57 Iowa

April 6, 2011

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THIS WEEK The University of Iowa men’s tennis team will return to the Hawkeye Tennis and Recreation Center to face Northwestern (10-8, 1-3) this Friday after a two match road trip. No. 57 Iowa (8-7, 2-3) and the Wildcats will get underway at 2 p.m.

SCOUTING THE OPPONENT The Wildcats are one game below Iowa in the Big Ten standings. Northwestern is coming off of a 4-3 victory over Penn State, a team Iowa also defeated by the same margin. Northwestern’s Joshua Graves is ranked No. 119 in singles.

IN THE RANKINGS Iowa jumped up five spots in the recent polls, ranking in at 57nd by the ITA. The Hawkeyes have improved 19 spots in the past three rankings.

LAST TIME OUT No. 29 Indiana, who is currently leading the Big Ten, defeated Iowa 7-0 in the Hawkeyes’ last match on Sunday. Iowa won the first doubles match, but the home standing Hoosiers won all matches from then on. Sophomore Garret Dunn and junior Tom Mroziewicz led Iowa to a victory in No. 3 doubles. The duo defeated Indiana’s Will Kendall and Isade Juneau by an 8-3 count to improve their doubles record to 5-3.

HAWKEYES TOP No. 60 PURDUE WITH RALLY The Hawkeyes made a big rally on Saturday to upend Purdue (10-9, 1-4) 4-3 on the road. Iowa won the doubles point, but the Boilermakers jumped to 1-0 leads after the first set in five of six singles matches. Purdue took a 3-2 lead with two matches remaining when junior Marc Bruche and Mroziewicz rose to the occasion. Bruche won his No. 1 singles match 4-6, 6-1, 6-1 to tie the team score with one match remaining. Mroziewicz won his No. 6 singles match 6-7, 6-4, 6-3 to secure the comeback win.

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 334-337 (.499), recording the most wins of any coach in Iowa men’s tennis history.

HOUGHTON ON WILDCATS “It sounds like a broken record, but this is another tough Big Ten team – they all are. This is also a very important match for us as we try to move up the Big Ten standings and vy for an NCAA berth.”

UP NEXT Iowa will face No. 22 Michigan (10-7, 3-2) on April 16th and No. 53 Michigan State (13-6, 0-5) on April 17th. Both matches start at noon.