Fight For Iowa | 24 Hawkeyes to Watch 2019-20 | Hawk Talk Monthly — October
NORMAN, Okla. — The nationally-ranked University of Iowa men’s tennis team finished competition at the ITA Central Regional Championships at the Headington Family Tennis Center on Sunday.
Top seeded and ranked No 56 nationally Will Davies and Oliver Okonkwo,bounced Big Ten brethren Vlad Lobak and Siim Troost from Minnesota in a close match, 6-7(8), 6-2, 10-6, in the semifinals to become Iowa’s first doubles team to advance to the doubles final in more than three decades. The Hawkeye duo finished runners-up after falling to the tandem of Hammond/Hudd from Oklahoma State (6-4, 6-2). Matt Clegg and Nikita Snezhko dropped their first doubles match of the weekend in the semifinals to the No. 5 seed from Oklahoma State in straight sets.
In singles quarterfinals action, Kareem Allaf knocked off Oklahoma’s Mark Mandlik with ease on his home court in straight sets. Allaf, seeded No. 2 and ranked 69th nationally, advanced to the semifinals of this event for the second consecutive year with a 6-4, 6-0 victory. Allaf’s run came to an end against 96th-ranked Kody Pearson of Tulsa (7-6, 6-2).
QUOTING MELLECKER FAMILY HEAD COACH ROSS WILSON
“Nice win in the semifinals for Will and Oliver coming back from a set down. They played a high level to finish the match in the tiebreaker. Unfortunately in the finals, they could not hold onto their 4-1 lead in the first set and the momentum changed and were unable to recover. Kareem had a great tournament. I thought he played at a high level, but ran into a tough match against his opponent from Tulsa. Hopefully our results are good enough from this past week to earn a couple at-large spots in singles and doubles at fall nationals in California.”
ITA MEN’S CENTRAL REGION CHAMPIONSHIPS RESULTS
Headington Family Tennis Center | University of Oklahoma | Norman, Okla.
Doubles Semifinals
(1) Davies/Okonkwo (UI) def. Lobak/Troost (MINN): 6-7(8), 6-2, 10-6
(5) Hammond/Hudd (OSU) def. Clegg/Snezhko (UI): 6-2, 6-2
Doubles Championship
(5) Hammond/Hudd (OSU) def. (1) Davies/Okonkwo (UI): 6-4, 6-2
Singles Quarterfinals
(2) Kareem Allaf def. Mark Mandlik (OU): 6-4, 6-0
Singles Semifinals
Kody Pearson (TU) def. (2) Kareem Allaf (UI): 7-6(5), 6-2
