Hawk Talk Monthly — January | Fight For Iowa | Match Notes (PDF)
THIS WEEK:
The University of Iowa men’s tennis team will host its second Saturday doubleheader of the season beginning with Marquette at Noon (CT), followed by Omaha at 5 p.m. (CT) at the Hawkeye Tennis & Recreation Complex. Admission is free for all matches.
MARQUETTE BREAKDOWN:
• The Golden Eagles return eight student-athletes from last season’s squad.
• Marquette enters Saturday’s match with an 0-1 record after a narrow loss at Minnesota, 4-3.
• Iowa owns a 6-1 advantage over Marquette since its first meeting in 1995.
OMAHA BREAKDOWN:
• The Mavericks enter this weekend’s action 0-1 after falling to Wichita State, 6-1.
• Head coach Tyson Thomas is in his third year with the program and holds the program record for most wins in a season (11).
• Iowa is 3-0 all-time against Omaha, last beating the Mavericks a year ago in Iowa City, 5-2.
HAWKEYE NOTABLES:
• Redshirt senior Kareem Allaf is ranked a personal-best No. 60 in the country.
• Will Davies and Oliver Okonkwo are ranked 16th nationally in doubles; it’s the highest ranking a doubles team has ever had in program history.
• Over the weekend, Allaf passed Niel Denahan (1990-94) for third in most singles wins in a program history (76).
• Allaf also passed former Hawkeye Jake Jacoby for fifth in school history with his 129th combined singles and doubles victory.
• Joe Tyler impressed many last weekend with a combined 5-1 record, including the lone singles win over a ranked opponent.
• Junior Will Davies is two doubles victories from cracking Iowa’s career Top 10 list.
• The Hawkeyes are coming off one of its best seasons in 20 years, finishing fifth in the Big Ten and knocking off three ranked Big Ten foes.
FOLLOW THE HAWKEYES:
Fans can follow the Hawkeyes all season long and receive live match updates on Facebook (facebook.com/IowaMensTennis) and Twitter (@IowaMensTennis). Fans can also get a behind the scenes look on Instagram (iowamenstennis).
HEAD COACH ROSS WILSON:
Ross Wilson, a former two-time NCAA All-American and three-time ITA national doubles champion at Ohio State, is in his sixth season as head coach and seventh year with the Iowa men’s tennis program.