Notebook: No. 43 Iowa Faces No. 44 Nebraska

THIS WEEK
The University of Iowa women’s tennis team travels to Lincoln, Nebraska, to face the No. 44 ranked Cornhuskers on Sunday. Action begins at 12 p.m. (CT) at the Sid and Hazel Dillion Tennis Center. This is the last regular conference match before the Big Ten Tournament starting April 29. There will be no fans allowed at either matches due to COVID-19 restrictions. Fans can follow along through live stream or live stats, which can be found on Nebraska’s women tennis schedule pages or Twitter.

ON IOWA
The Hawkeyes enter the week 11-4 in the Big Ten. The 11 conference wins is the most in program history, passing the 2006 Hawkeye team who won nine. Iowa was 7-2 at home and is 4-2 on the road in conference play this season. The Hawkeyes defeated No. 28 Nebraska, 4-2, in their last home match of the season on March 28.

IOWA EARNS SPOT IN ITA RANKINGS
The Intercollegiate Tennis Association released updated team rankings April 14. The Hawkeyes are ranked No. 43. Iowa was previously ranked No. 39 on April 7 and No. 37 on March 24, the Hawkeyes’ highest team ranking Iowa was ranked No. 30 in 2011.

IOWA RANKED IN COACHES POLL
The Intercollegiate Tennis Association Coaches Poll released their first team rankings on April 14. The Hawkeyes are ranked No. 41. Iowa is one of five Big Ten Teams in the rankings, which are No. 8 Northwestern, No. 9 Ohio State, No. 12 Michigan and No. 42 Nebraska.

NOEL AND VAN HEUVELEN EARN ITA SINGLES RANKINGS
Freshman Alexa Noel earned a No. 13 ranking and senior Elise van Heuvelen earned a No. 86 ranking in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association singles rankings on April 14. Noel’s ranking is the highest of any singles player in the history of Iowa Women’s Tennis. Noel is 21-0 this season and has won 19 of those 21 matches in straight sets, all at the No. 1 position. Van Heuvelen is 17-3 playing No. 2 singles and 15-5 at No. 2 doubles.
This season marks the first time two Hawkeyes have been ranked in the regular season since Meg Racette and Milica Veselinovic were ranked 35th and 80th, respectively, in 2006.

NOEL EARNS BIG TEN ATHLETE OF THE WEEK
Alexa Noel earned her third Big Ten weekly honor on the week of April 14 when she was named Big Ten Women’s Tennis Athlete of the Week. A native of Summit, New Jersey. She is 21-0 overall and 15-0 in the Big Ten following a pair of straight set wins last weekend at Rutgers and Maryland. She won 24 of 32 sets at the No. 1 singles position and earned her fifth win this season against a ranked opponent, topping No. 30 Anaya Akli of Maryland, 6-1, 6-2. Noel has won 19 of her 21 matches in straight sets, all at the No. 1 position. The Big Ten honor is the third of Noel’s career. She was previously recognized March 23 and Feb. 16. Noel is the first player in program history to win the Big Ten weekly honor three times in the same season and one of three players to win the award at least three times in a career.

VAN HEUVELEN MAKES HISTORY
Senior Elise van Heuvelen Treadwell ranks fourth all-time in singles wins (93) and is second all-time in doubles wins (83). She has 176 combined singles and doubles wins, which ranks third all-time. Van Heuvelen trails Hillary Mintz for first place all-time in doubles wins (93), which is Iowa’s all-time leader. Van Heuvelen’s .672 career winning percentage in singles is fourth all-time among Hawkeyes with more than 100 career matches.

UNDEFEATED RECORD
Freshman Alexa Noel is 21-0 playing at the No. 1 singles position. She has the best single-season winning percentage (1.000) of any player in school history with a minimum of 10 matches. She has won 19 of 21 matches in straight sets, including the last 12. She is also 12-6 overall in doubles, teaming with Samantha Mannix at the No. 1 spot. Noel is ranked No. 13 in the ITA singles rankings, the highest of any Hawkeye in program history. She is the third freshman in program history to appear in the ITA national rankings. Sonja Molnar reached as high as No. 75 in 2009 and Sam Mannix was ranked No. 125 in 2019. The complete 2021 ITA rankings are available at wearecollegetennis.com.

NEBRASKA BREAKDOWN
• Rutgers is 11-4 overall and in the B1G
• Iowa won 4-2 in the last meeting on March 28
• Nebraska leads the all-time series, 18-10
• Nebraska is on a two-game win streak
• Kristina Novak is ranked No. 125 in ITA Singles Rankings
• Isabel Adrover Gallego and Claire Reifeis is 11-4 on the season in doubles at the No. 2 spot

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.