April 20, 2012
MADISON, Wis. – The University of Iowa men’s tennis team fell short at Wisconsin on Friday evening at the Nielsen Tennis Stadium. The Badgers (11-11, 3-7) defeated Iowa (1-20, 0-10) by a 5-2 margin.
The Hawkeyes earned singles victories from junior Garret Dunn and sophomore Jonas Dierckx, and picked up a doubles victory at the No. 2 position from freshman Matt Hagan and Dierckx.
“We had three guys play very well for us in singles in Garret, Jonas and Joey White, and our No. 2 doubles team played great,” said head coach Steve Houghton. “Overall, I thought that we played pretty well, just not good enough to get the win.”
Dunn won his fourth consecutive Big Ten singles match, improving to 5-5 in conference competition and 10-9 on the season. After a competitive first set at the No. 4 singles position that went to Dunn in a tiebreaker, Dunn would cruise through the second set and win the match with a 6-1 advantage in the final set.
Dierckx’s No. 3 singles match went into a super tiebreaker, where the Lommel, Belgium, native would pull through for the Hawkeyes. Dierckx defeated Wisconsin’s Quinton Vega, 6-7 (9), 6-2, 1-0 (10-6), to earn his sixth dual singles win of the season.
Every singles match besides the No. 6 position included at least one set that went into extra games. Hagan nearly earned a win in No. 1 singles, forcing each set against Wisconsin’s Fredrik Ask to enter extra games. Senior Will Vasos and sophomore Joey White would also lose a set in extras. Sophomore Michael Swank played his first singles match since March 4, but would fall short at No. 6 singles.
After the Badgers claimed the No. 3 doubles match, Dierckx and Hagan came through with a dominating performance in the No. 2 doubles position. The Hawkeye tandem defeated Alexander Kostanov and Rod Carey, 8-1. Dierckx and Hagan have competed together in ten doubles matches this season, posting a 5-5 record. Dierckx and Hagan won the Flight B Doubles Big Ten Indoor Championships last fall.
Wisconsin’s 28th-ranked doubles team won the No. 1 doubles match to take a 1-0 lead heading into singles competition.
The Hawkeyes will close the regular season on Sunday, hosting No. 35 Minnesota at the Hawkeye Tennis and Recreation Complex at noon (CT). Iowa will be honoring its four seniors; Mitch Beckert, Tom Mroziewicz, Christopher Speer and Will Vasos.
Wisconsin 5, Iowa 2
Singles
No. 1 – Fredrik Ask (UW) def. Matt Hagan (IOWA) 7-6 (7-5), 7-5
No. 2 – Rod Carey (UW) def. Will Vasos (IOWA) 6-2, 7-5
No. 3 – Jonas Dierckx (IOWA) def. Quinton Vega (UW) 6-7 (9), 6-2, 1-0 (10-6)
No. 4 – Garret Dunn (IOWA) def. Alexander Kostanov (UW) 7-6 (4), 6-1
No. 5 – Petr Satral (UW) def. Joey White (IOWA) 7-6 (5), 6-4
No. 6 – Billy Bertha (UW) def. Michael Swank (IOWA) 6-1, 6-0
Order of finish: 6, 2, 4, 5, 1, 3
Doubles
No. 1 – Ask/Bertha (UW) def. Dunn/Michael Swank (IOWA) 8-5
No. 2 – Dierckx/Hagan (IOWA) def. Kostanov/Carey (UW) 8-1
No. 3 – Alex Robles/Quinton Vega (UW) def. Vasos/Mroziewicz (IOWA) 8-3
Order of finish: 3, 2, 1