Hawk Talk Monthly — January | Fight For Iowa | Box Score (PDF) | Box Score (PDF) | Boxscore
IOWA CITY, Iowa — The University of Iowa men’s tennis team improved notched its first two wins of the 2020 campaign, sweeping the competition on Saturday at the Hawkeye Tennis & Recreation Complex. The Hawkeyes went back-to-back with victories over Western Michigan (4-3) and Creighton (5-2).
Against Western Michigan, Iowa took care of the doubles point winning on courts one and two. A top-45 matchup between Will Davies/Oliver Okonkwo and Western Michigan’s Opitz/Nouchi was a one-sided affair. The Hawkeye duo won their first match of the spring, 6-3. Matt Clegg and Joe Tyler clinched the doubles point in a tightly contested match, 7-5, over Randall/Kuszynski.
Iowa and Western Michigan split the six singles matches. After dropping the first set, Tyler put together a dominant performance winning 12 of the last 13 games against Peter Kuszynski to recapture the lead. Clegg won his first career dual match, cruising to victory in straight sets (6-4, 6-3). Senior Kareem Allaf, ranked No. 60 nationally, picked up where he left off Thursday clinching the match for the Hawkeyes with a win over Jannik Opitz in the third set, 6-7(2), 6-4, 6-3.
In the nightcap of the doubleheader, Iowa switched the doubles lineup and still claimed the point. Allaf/Clegg put together a good set defeating Diaz/Lopez-Rey, 6-3. Tyler/Davies followed suit notching the tandem’s first win of the season, 6-4, over Creighton’s Campbell/Mease.
The Hawkeyes won five of the six first sets and kept that momentum rolling into the second. Morgan Lohan picked up his first win of the new year in straight sets over Joe Hoff (6-3, 6-1). Tyler extended the lead with his third win of the season against Stratton Brown (6-0, 7-5). Davies clinched the match for Iowa in his victory against Jose Diaz (7-5, 6-1). Kerst added the final point for the Hawkeyes bouncing Mac Mease in straight sets.
Quoting Mellecker Family Head Coach Ross Wilson
“Today was a pretty good day for us. Western Michigan is always a tough team and I was excited to see us take the doubles point. We bounced back from the tough Texas Tech doubles loss. Oliver and Will played really well, especially Oliver, because he made adjustments from watching the film. Kareem was a little under the weather today, but he fought and was able to pull out a tough three-set match to give us the fourth point to beat Western Michigan.
Playing Creighton, it was a long day with the doubleheader and we had some guys sick, but Morgan stepped up and got a win. Jason got his first win and Will played a really good second set. Joe obviously played well; he has now won five of six matches he has played this season. There were a lot of positives from today. We’ll move on and look forward to playing next Saturday.”
Up Next
Iowa welcomes Marquette (Noon) and Omaha (5 p.m.) next Saturday at the Hawkeye Tennis & Recreation Complex. Admission is free to the public.
Iowa 4, Western Michigan 3
Jan. 18, 2020 | 11 a.m. | Iowa City, Iowa | Hawkeye Tennis & Recreation Complex
Singles
1. #60 Kareem Allaf (UI) def. Jannik Opitz (WMU): 6-7(2), 6-4, 6-3
2. Joe Tyler (UI) def. def. Peter Kuszynski (WMU): 2-6, 6-0, 6-1
3. Kennosuke Nouchi (WMU) def. Oliver Okonkwo (UI): 6-7(4), 7-5, 6-3
4. Jack Randall (WMU) def. Will Davies (UI): 6-2, 6-3
5. Rodrigo Crespo (WMU) def. Jason Kerst (UI): 6-2, 6-1
6. Matt Clegg (UI) def. Arjun Honnappa (WMU): 6-4, 6-3
Doubles
1. #16 Okonkwo/Davies (UI) def. #41 Opitz/Nouchi (WMU): 6-3
2. Clegg/Tyler (UI) def. Randall/Kuszynski (WMU)): 7-5
3. Crespo/Honnappa (WMU) def. Allaf/Kerst (UI): 6-4
Match Notes:
Iowa 1-1
Western Michigan 2-2
Order of finish: Doubles (1,3,2); Singles (5,2,4,6,1,3)
Iowa 5, Creighton 2
Jan. 18, 2020 | 4:15 p.m. | Iowa City, Iowa | Hawkeye Tennis & Recreation Complex
Singles
1. Nick Campbell (CRE) def. #60 Kareem Allaf (UI):6-4, 4-6, 10-4
2. Joe Tyler (UI) def. Stratton Brown (CRE): 6-0, 7-5
3. Will Davies (UI) def. Jose Oscar Diaz (CRE): 7-5, 6-1
4. Jason Kerst (UI) def. Mac Mease (CRE): 6-4, 6-4
5. Daniel Lopez-Rey (CRE) def. Matt Clegg (UI): 3-6, 7-5, 10-1
6. Morgan Lohan (UI) def. Joe Hoff (CRE): 6-3, 6-1
Doubles
1. Tyler/Davies (UI) def. Campbell/Mease (CRE): 6-4
2. Allaf/Clegg (UI) def. Diaz/Lopez-Rey (CRE): 6-3
3. Brown/Hoff (CRE) def. Lohan/Kerst (UI): 6-3
Match Notes:
Iowa 2-1
Creighton 0-1
Order of finish: Doubles (3,2,1) ; Singles (6,2,3,4,5,1)
