Tennis Notebook: South Alabama and Florida International

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THIS WEEK FOR THE HAWKEYES
The University of Iowa women’s tennis team opens the 2020 season with neutral site matchups against South Alabama on Saturday and Flordia International on Monday. 

HEAD COACH SASHA SCHMID ON THE START OF THE SEASON
“We start this season with four outdoor matches, against four tough teams. This is a great opening stretch for our team. We will be tested and gain a ton from these competitions to start the season. I am very pleased with our team’s focus and preparation, and now we just need to play and continue to grow from match to match this spring. We are ready to start.”

TAKING ON THE JAGUARS
This is the fifth all time matchup between Iowa and South Alabama. The match will take place at the Florida Gulf Coast Univeristy Tennis Complex in Fort Myers, Florida. 

Series Record: 0-4
First Meeting: 1999 (Lost 6-3) 
Last Meeting: 2003 (Lost 7-0)

TAKING ON THE PANTHERS
This is the third all time matchup between Iowa and Florida International. The match will take place at the USTA complex in Orlando, Florida as part of the 2020 USTA National Campus Collegiate Series. The Hawkeyes and the Panthers met this fall at the FIU Invitational, with FIU taking all six singles matches played in a non-dual round robin format. 

Series Record: 0-2
First Meeting: 2006 (Lost 4-1)
Last Meeting: 2017 (Lost 0-4) 

LEADING THE WAY
The Hawkeyes are led by lone senior Elise van Heuvelen Treadwell, a three-time All-Big-Ten selection. Van Heuvelen Treadwell has a chance to become just the fourth Hawkeye ever to be a four-time selection (Laura Dvorak    1992-95, Toni Neykova 1999-2002, and Sonja Molnar 2009-12).

HAWKEYE NEWCOMERS
The Hawkeyes welcome two newcomers; freshman Erika Dodridge from Bournemouth, England, and sophomore Samantha Gillas from New Braunfels, Texas. 

Dodridge is a four-time International Tennis Federation champion, she reached the top 200 of the 16U Europe Junior Circuit in 2016. Dodridge won the D draw at the Gopher Invitational this fall. 

Gillas is a Virginia Tech transfer. As a freshman she was 28-12 in singles during the fall and the spring. She added seven doubles wins for the Hokies in the spring. She was named an ITA Academic scholar, and All-Academic ACC her freshman year. In high school she won both an individual and team Texas state championship.

FOLLOW THE HAWKEYES
Fans can follow the Iowa women’s tennis team on facebook and via twitter @Iowa_Tennis. Results from this weekend will be available on the Iowa women’s tennis schedule page at hawkeyesports.com.

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