THIS WEEK
The University of Iowa women’s tennis team travels to East Lansing, Michigan, on Thursday to face Michigan State.The match is set to start at 4 p.m. (CT) at the MSU Tennis Center. The Hawkeyes will then return home to compete against No. 22 Michigan on Sunday at 11 a.m. at the Hawkeye Tennis & Recreation Complex. The Wolverines will be Iowa’s 10th ranked opponent this season. Admission is free to all home matches, and fans can follow along via the live scoring and streaming links on the Iowa women’s tennis schedule page at hawkeyesports.com.
ON IOWA… LAST TIME OUT
Iowa enters this week with a 5-14 overall record, after splitting matches last weekend. Nine of Iowa’s defeats have come against ranked foes. The Hawkeyes earned a conference win last Sunday with a 4-1 win at Rutgers. Iowa secured the doubles point with wins on courts two and three. Marisa Schmidt and Vipasha Mehra defeated Lopez/Zahare, 6-3, and Barbora Pokorna and Michelle Bacalla topped Cardenas/Kaplan, 6-2. Pokora and Bacalla also beat Maryland’s Bach/Feodorov, 6-3, this past weekend, which puts the duo on a three-match win streak.The Hawkeyes recorded three straight singles wins over Rutgers. Schmidt defeated Tess Fisher, 6-2, 6-2. Samantha Man- nix shut down Jackeline Lopez, 6-2, 6-3. Pokorna won in straight sets over Minchae Kim, 6-1, 6-4, and she also bounced Maryland’s Minorka Miranda (7-6, 6-3). She has been victorious in five of her last six decisions. Senior Samantha Gillas also gained a singles win against the Terrapins after topping Jojo Bach in straight sets, 6-1, 6-2.
TWO SENIOR RECOGNITIONS
Bacalla and Gillas will both be recognized on Sunday at their final regular season home match versus Michigan.
Bacalla has been a mainstay in the Hawkeye lineup for four years. Bacalla has been an active member in the “engage” program with the Iowa City School District, mentoring youth. She has volunteered many hours at the Ronald McDonald House and at Habitat for Humanity. Bacalla is a member of the Dean’s List in the Spring 2020, and Academic All-Big Ten in the Spring 2020 and Spring of 2021.
Gillas has been in Iowa’s lineup the last two seasons after transferring from Virginia Tech in January 2020. She has vol- unteered hundreds of hours at various community agencies in Iowa City, including the Stead Family Children’s Hospital, The United Way, Oaknoll Retirement Community, Iowa City Schools, Dance Marathon, and Legacy Point Senior Living.
Gillas also served as the Women’s Tennis ISAAC representative in 2020 and 2021. She is a member of the Dean’s List in Spring 2020, Fall 2020, and Academic All-Big Ten in Spring of 2021.
POKORNA CONTINUED SUCCESS
Barbora Pokorna leads the Hawkeyes with an 11-4 record, winning five of her last six singles matches. She recorded back-to-back-to-back wins before a loss at Northwestern. Pokorna bounced back with two more singles wins last weekend, as well as a pair of doubles victories. She has won five of her last six doubles matches, improving to 9-6. The duo of Pokorna/Bacalla have won their past three doubles matches together.
MICHIGAN STATE BREAKDOWN
• Michigan State is 9-9 overall and 1-6 in conference play.
• The Spartans are on a six-match losing streak, with five of their last six matches coming against ranked foes.
• Iowa has an overall record of 34-17 against Michigan State, recently winning in 2020.
MICHIGAN BREAKDOWN
• No. 22 Michigan is 12-5 overall and 6-1 in the Big Ten.
• The Wolverines’ lone conference loss came to No. 8 Ohio State.
• Iowa has a 12-41 record all-time against Michigan, last winning in 2006.
• Michigan has three student-athletes ranked in the ITA Singles Tennis Rankings: No. 15 Kari Miller, No. 77 Jaedan Brown, and No. 121 Nicole Hammond.
• The duo of Jaedan Brown and Andrea Cerdan are ranked No. 75 in the ITA Doubles Tennis Rankings.
TWO RECRUITS SIGN WITH THE HAWKEYES
Daianne Hayashida from Lima, Peru, and Pia Kranholdt from Hilders, Germany, have signed a national letter of intent to join the Hawkeyes this fall. Kranholdt is one of the top junior tennis players from Germany. She has a Top 100 Ger- man Women’s Open Ranking. Kranholdt won a doubles title at the German Junior Nationals. The German native won multiple Women’s Open tournaments with victories over several players inside the Top 100. Her high school team won the German national title and represented Germany at the World Championships.Hayashida has a Juniors career high International Tennis Federation (ITF) ranking of No. 110 and has ascended as high as No. 953 in the Women’s ITF Rank- ings. A Fed Cup Group II American Zone Champion, she has a Universal Tennis Rating of 10.10. Hayashida won the gold medal in doubles and earned bronze in singles at the 2021 Pan American Games that took place this past December.
IOWA TO HOST 2022 BIG TEN WOMEN’S TENNIS CHAMPIONSHIPS
The University of Iowa has been selected to host the 2022 Big Ten Women’s Tennis Championships. The event will take place April 27 through May 1 at the Hawkeye Tennis & Recreation Complex. The last time Iowa hosted the conference tournament was 2010.
FOLLOW THE HAWKEYES
Fans can follow the Iowa women’s tennis team on Facebook and via Twitter @Iowa_Tennis. Results from each match is available on the Iowa women’s tennis schedule page at hawkeyesports.com.