Men's Tennis Opens Season at Purdue Invite

Sept. 16, 2013

Weekly Release

THIS WEEK
The University of Iowa men’s tennis team will open the fall season, Sept. 20-22, at the Purdue Invite. Nine of the 10 Hawkeyes will be making the trip to West Lafayette, Ind., to start off the 2013-14 campaign.

LAST YEAR AT PURDUE INVITE
Sophomore Dominic Patrick shined last year at the Purdue Invite, becoming the Flight A Consolation runner-up. After losing his first match of the invite, Patrick went on to win three consecutive matches to earn a spot in the Flight A Consolation final.

VETERANS BACK IN ACTION
Iowa will feature a roster that consists of a large number of veterans. Eight of the 10 Hawkeyes are upperclassmen, with six of them being seniors. Iowa will be led by senior Jonas Dierckx. Dierckx compiled a 19-18 (.514) record in singles while playing in the #1 and #2 position to accompany a 12-6 (.667) record in the #2 spot of doubles. Dierckx was also a recipient of the Big Ten Sportsmanship award.

HAWKEYE NEWCOMER
The Hawkeyes will feature one new member to their roster for the fall schedule. Freshman Nils Hallestrand joins the team from Danderyd, Sweden, after an impressive prep career. The 6-foot-5 Hallestrand was a part of the 2013 national runner-up club team that competed outdoors, while placing in the top 16 at the 2013 U21 indoor nationals.

NEW ASSISTANT COACH WILSON
Ross Wilson joins the program as an assistant coach after serving the past year as an assistant coach at San Diego. Wilson was named the 2012 ITA National Assistant Coach of the Year and ITA Central Region Assistant Coach of the Year this past year after he helped guide San Diego to a third straight NCAA Tournament appearance. Wilson was a two-time NCAA All-American and three-time ITA national doubles champion during his playing days at Ohio State.

HEAD COACH HOUGHTON
Steve Houghton, the dean of Big Ten tennis coaches, is in his 33rd year as head coach of the Hawkeyes. He has compiled a career record of 345-381 (.475), recording the most wins of any coach in Iowa men’s tennis history.

HOUGHTON ON PURDUE INVITE
“We have played this tournament before and it’s a good one. There will be some good teams there and a lot of good players. For us, it is our first event, which is important. We only have four fall events and we make a big deal out of them. Every match is important, and the players need to make the most out of every match. They aren’t important just in terms of getting better, but to help earn a spot for second semester. We pay attention to the fall results and it’s one of the criteria for deciding who is in the starting lineup in January.”