THIS WEEK
The University of Iowa women’s tennis team travels to Lawrence, Kansas, on Friday to face Kansas (0-3) at 5 p.m. inside the Jayhawk Tennis Center. The Hawkeyes will then travel to Manhattan, Kansas, on Sunday to compete against Kansas State (2-0) inside the Chester E. Peters K-State Rec Center. That match is set to start at noon.
ON IOWA
Iowa is coming into its fourth week with three wins under its belt. The Hawkeyes are coming off the ITA Kickoff Weekend where they recorded their first ITA Kickoff victory — 4-3 over North Florida — since a 4-2 win over Texas A&M-Corpus Christi on Feb. 1, 2010, in Waco, Texas. Iowa recorded doubles wins on courts two and three, along with singles wins on courts 4-6 to register the win over the Ospreys.
SCHMIDT’S SUCCESS
Freshman Marisa Schmidt bounced Mississippi State’s No. 50 Emmanouela Antonaki in straight sets (6-3, 6-4) at the No. 2 spot on Friday, Jan. 29. at the ITA Kickoff Weekend. The Germany native, who is 3-1 in singles competition, made her collegiate tennis debut going went 4-0 overall at the No. 1 and No. 2 spot in both singles and doubles in Iowa’s home opener against Drake and Marquette on Jan. 16.
NOEL RANKED THIRD IN THE NATION
Sophomore Alexa Noel is ranked No. 3 in Intercollegiate Tennis Association’s national rankings. The rankings are a result of individual competition that took place this fall across the country. Noel’s No. 3 rankings is the highest in program history. The Summit, New Jersey, native won seven matches this fall, including notching a win over both the No. 1 and No. 2 ranked players in the nation. Noel faced top-ranked Eryn Cayetano of USC and second-ranked Sarah Hamner of South Carolina twice each this fall, going 1-1 against both players. Noel bounced Cayetano in the semifinals of the ITA All-American Championships in South Carolina and Hamner in the quarterfinals of the ITA National Fall Championships in California.
NOEL, CONFERENCE AND BIG TEN PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Alexa Noel ended her freshman career, 24-1, becoming the first Hawkeye in program history to earn Big Ten Conference Player of the Year and Big Ten Freshman of the Year. Noel was ranked as high as No 13 nationally, previously the highest-ranking of any player in program history.
• Noel earned the Big Ten’s Conference automatic berth and a seed at the national tournament. The seed guaranteed All-American recognition, making Noel the first All-American in program history, and the third player in program history to make the singles draw at the NCAA Championships. The New Jersey native fell in the championship to Sarah Hamner of South Carolina in the third set after she retired due to injury.
• Noel earned four Big Ten weekly honors, which ties Sonja Mionar for most in program history. Noel is the first player in program history to win the Big Ten Weekly honors for times in a season and one of three players to win the award at least three times in a career. She also is one of three players in the Big Ten Conference history to earn the weekly award four times in a single season.
IOWA NEWCOMERS
Freshman Barbora Pokorna, Marisa Schmidt, and Olivia Weiss are all making their spring debut for the Hawkeyes.
• Pokorna, who is from the Czech Republic, was a singles winner at U18 regional championship, a doubles semifinalist, at the U18 National championships, a two-time doubles finalist at the U14 national championship, and nationally ranked inside the top 10 each year for players born in 2001.
• Schmidt, the native from Germany, ascended as high as No. 63 this past year in the German National Women’s Open Rankings and has been ranked in the Top 20 Junior Rankings. Schmidt is the U21 champion and women’s open-runner in the Baden-Wuerttemberg Championships.
• Weiss, born and raised in Michigan, was a five-star recruit and was ranked No. 55 in the class of 2021 nationally by tennisrecruiting.net. She won four singles and 10 doubles tournaments on the USTA national level. She competed at No. 1 singles for two years at Royal Oak High School and was a two-time all-state honoree, two-time Scholar-Athlete of the Year,
KANSAS BREAKDOWN
• The Hawkeyes own a 10-7 advantage in the series against the JayHawks.
• Kansas is 0-3 this season with losses to Tulsa, No. 22 Baylor, and No. 23 Miami.
• The JayHawks return seven veteran players from the 2020-21 season.
• Two players are nationally ranked; redshirt freshman Maria Titovai is ranked No. 42 and senior Malkia Ngounoue is ranked No. 109.
• Mariana Manyoma Velasquez and Malkia Ngounoue are ranked No. 51 nationally.
KANSAS STATE BREAKDOWN
• Iowa is 8-3 all-time against the Wildcats.
• Kansas State is 2-0 this season with victories over South Dakota and No. 21 Mississippi State.
• Two players are nationally ranked; senior Karine-Marion Job is ranks No. 51 and senior Rosanna Maffei is ranked No. 125.
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.