Aug 29, 2013
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IOWA CITY, Iowa — Head coach Katie Dougherty and the University of Iowa women’s tennis team announced its schedule Thursday for the upcoming 2013-2014 season. The Hawkeyes face three opponents that finished the season ranked in the top 20, and eight schools that advanced to last year’s NCAA Championships.
Iowa’s fall schedule includes six tournaments, beginning Sept. 28 at the All-American Championships in Pacific Palisades, Calif., and concluding Nov. 11 at the USTA/ITA National Indoor Championships in Flushing, N.Y.
“Our fall schedule has us out of the region quite a bit and competing against strong players from the ACC, SEC, and other conferences that we don’t often see,” said Dougherty.
The Hawkeyes’ spring schedule includes one tournament (Northwestern Invite on Jan. 18), 22 dual matches, 10 home dates, and a spring break trip to College of Charleston.
The dual season begins Jan. 25 with a doubleheader at the Hawkeye Tennis and Recreation Complex against Nebraska-Omaha and Northern Iowa. The nonconference schedule also includes back-to-back dates against NCAA qualifiers Oklahoma and Memphis beginning Jan. 31, and a home match against Oregon on Feb. 7.
Iowa begins conference play on the road March 14 against defending Big Ten champion Nebraska. The Hawkeyes’ road schedule also includes trips to Minnesota, Purdue, Indiana, Illinois and Northwestern.
The home schedule includes five conference dates, including matches against Wisconsin, Michigan and Michigan State, and regular season finales against Ohio State and Penn State on April 19-20.
“The Big Ten conference continues to be one of the best in the country,” added Dougherty, “and when you consider the strength of our nonconference schedule, we should expect to be well prepared for the Big Ten season and postseason tournaments.”
The 2014 Big Ten Championships are hosted by Northwestern in Evanston, Ill., on April 24-27. The NCAA Championships are contested May 15-26 in Athens, Ga.
The Hawkeyes return all six starters from last year’s squad, including No. 1 singles player Ruth Seaborne. Seaborne reached as high as No. 75 in the ITA singles rankings last season. She also teamed with Morven McCulloch as Iowa’s top doubles pair, reaching as high as No. 34 in the ITA doubles rankings.