Hawkeyes to Hit the Courts

Oct. 19, 2011

Oct. 19 Release

THIS WEEK: The University of Iowa men’s tennis team will be at two tournaments this week. Team members will compete at the ITA Central Regional Championships from Oct. 21-25 and the Wildcat Invitational from Oct. 21-23.

ITA CENTRAL REGIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS: The ITA Central Regional Championships will be hosted by Tulsa at the Case Tennis Center. The qualifying rounds will begin Friday, while main draw action starts Saturday and goes until Tuesday. Sophomores Jonas Dierckx and Chase Tomlins will be competing for Iowa. The Hawkeyes will be competing against 16 teams. Iowa was ranked sixth regionally in preseason rankings.

WILDCAT INVITATIONAL: Six Hawkeyes will be in Evanston, Ill., for the Wildcat Invitational Oct. 21-23. Last season, senior Marc Bruche won the Flight A singles title at this tournament.

BRUCHE MAKES IOWA TENNIS HISTORY: Marc Bruche became the first player in school history to reach the main draw of the ITA All-American Championships. After three straight wins in qualifying, two against ranked opponents, Bruche was named Big Ten men’s tennis co-Athlete of the Week. Bruche, ranked No. 101 nationally, defeated San Diego State’s Javier Pulgar, Florida’s No. 69 Tripper Carleton and Boise State’s No. 109 James Meredith, before falling in the first round of the main draw.

VASOS WINS 5 MATCHES AT ITA ALL-AMERICAN: Senior Will Vasos helped Iowa win more matches than ever before as a team at the ITA All-American Championships. The Fort Collins, Colo., native earned five wins. Vasos won four straight matches in pre-qualifying to advance to the qualifying stage. Vasos won a consolation match in qualifying as well. Overall, the Hawkeyes had nine singles victories at the tournament with wins from Vasos (5), Bruche (3) and sophomore Jonas Diercks (1).

SINGLES SUCCESS: The Black and Gold have been stellar in singles play this fall. The Hawkeyes posted a 33-21 overall record (.636). Senior Christopher Speer leads the Hawkeyes with eight singles wins, while Vasos has seven.

HEAD COACH Steve Houghton: Steve Houghton, the dean of Big Ten tennis coaches, is in his 31st year as head coach of the Hawkeyes. He has compiled a career record of 331-341 (.493), recording the most wins of any coach in Iowa men’s tennis history.

HOUGHTON ON ITA ALL-AMERICAN: “Chase and Jonas have proven that they can play with the top players in the region, and that’s what they’ll be looking to do. As for the WildcatInvite, we have a great opportunity for six guys to play a lot of tennis over the course of three days.”