Hawkeye Fan Shop — A Black & Gold Store | Fight For Iowa | Hawk Talk Monthly — February | Photo Gallery | Box Score (PDF) | Boxscore
IOWA CITY, Iowa — The No. 42 University of Iowa men’s tennis team bounced 40th-ranked Oregon, 4-2, in a thriller at the Hawkeye Tennis & Recreation Complex (HTRC) Sunday afternoon. The victory was Iowa’s second in as many weeks over a ranked opponent.
Doubles competition went back-and-forth with the Hawkeyes ultimately coming away with the point. Oregon took a 6-4 decision on court one, before Iowa’s duo of Will Davies/Piotr Smietana won their ninth consecutive match by taking down the 16th-ranked doubles team of Thomas Laurent/Cormac Clissold on court two, 7-5. The doubles point came down to the rackets of Jake Jacoby/Joe Tyler, who outlasted the tandem from Oregon, 7-6(8), clinching match point on a double fault.
Smietana and Tyler won their singles matches convincingly on courts three and four, respectively. Smietana won for the fourth time in six matches, while Tyler won for the fifth time in six matches.
Josh Silverstein and Larsen dropped their singles matches before Davies won his sixth consecutive match on court six to clinch the victory for Iowa.
NOTABLES:
- Iowa has won the doubles point in 10 of its 13 matches this season.
- Iowa’s three singles victories came in straight sets, all by freshmen.
- The Hawkeyes have won six of their last seven matches.
- The Hawkeyes are 2-0 against teams from the PAC-12 this season, having previously beaten Arizona (4-1) on Feb. 11, in Iowa City.
- Iowa has won its last two matches against ranked opponents, beating No. 14 Dartmouth (4-3) and No. 40 Oregon (4-2).
NEXT MATCH:
The nationally-ranked Hawkeyes will compete against Omaha later today at 5 p.m. at the HTRC. Admission is free to the public.
HEAD COACH ROSS WILSON ON WILL DAVIES:
“Will Davies has been the guy in the big matches that has been on the court at the end. We felt good with him out there. To come through in those moments where there are two matches left and you can see the finish line, but the pressure is mounting knowing that the team needs you to win, he has been great. Will played to win. He stepped up to the baseline, he was looking to win points. He was very sure about how he was going to play and how he was going to win that match.”
HEAD COACH ROSS WILSON ON DOUBLES:
“Will and Piotr have played great all season and they beat the No. 16 ranked doubles team today. You can’t say enough about those guys. Jake and Joe did a good job with a comeback win at No. 3 doubles to help clinch the doubles point.”
#42 Iowa 4, #40 Oregon 3
March 4, 2018 | 11 a.m. (CT) | Iowa City, Iowa | HTRC
Singles
1. #13 Thomas Laurent (CU) def. Josh Silverstein (UI): 6-1, 6-2
2. Akihiro Tanaka (OU) vs. Kareem Allaf (UI): 3-6, 7-6, unfinished
3. Piotr Smietana (CU) def. Simon Stevens (OU): 6-1, 6-3
4. Joe Tyler (UI): def. Cormac Clissold (OU): 6-3, 6-1
5. Ty Gentry (OU) def. Jonas Larsen (UI): 6-4, 6-4
6. Will Davies (UI) def. Riki Oshima (OU): 6-3, 7-5
Doubles
1. Soemarno/Roberts def. Allaf/Larsen (UI): 6-4
2. Smietana/Davies (UI) def. #16 Laurent/Clissold (OU): 5-7
3. Tyler/Jacoby (UI) def. Gentry/Stevens (OU): 7-6(8)
Match Notes:
#42 Iowa: 7-6
#40 Oregon: 9-3
Order of finish: Doubles (1,2,3); Singles (3,1,4,5,6)
