THIS WEEK
The University of Iowa women’s tennis team travels to Lincoln, Nebraska, to face No. 53 Nebraska for its last regular season matchup. The match is set to start at 11 a.m. at the Sid and Hazel Dillon Tennis Center. Nebraska will be Iowa’s 11th ranked opponent this season. 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 6-15 overall record, after splitting matches last weekend. Ten of Iowa’s defeats have come against ranked foes. The Hawkeyes earned another conference win last Thursday with a 4-1 win at Michigan State. The Spartans have made a number of appearances in the rankings and have been ranked as high as 55 this season.
Iowa began the match by securing the doubles point with wins on courts one and two. Samantha Mannix and Samantha Gillas won on court one over Lewis/Pietrowicz, 6-3. Marisa Schmidt and Vipasha Mehra defeated Can/Gisclon, 7-6(0), on court two. They have won back-to-back doubles matches after previously topping Rutgers’ Cardenas/Kaplan, 6-2.
The Hawkeyes recorded straight singles wins over Michigan State. Gillas recorded the first singles win for the Hawkeyes overcoming Charlotte Gisclon, 6-3, 6-1. Barbora Pokorna continued her strong play with a win over Maja Pietrowicz, 6-4, 6-2. She has been victorious in six of her last eight decisions. Michelle Bacalla closed out the match against the Spartans with a victory over Tia Mukherjee in straight sets on court six, 7-5, 6-4.
Pokorna and Bacalla were ahead in both their doubles matches against Michigan State and Michigan last week before their matches were called. They currently hold a three-match win streak.
NEBRASKA BREAKDOWN
• Nebraska is 13-9 overall and 6-4 in the Big Ten.
• Nebraska is No. 53 in the ITA Tennis Rankings.
• Nebraska has faced 15 ranked opponents, victorious over five.
• Iowa has an 18-10 record all-time against Nebraska, last winning in 2017.
• Nebraska has no student-athletes ranked in the ITA Singles or Doubles Tennis Rankings.
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 next week, April 27 through May 1, at the Hawkeye Tennis & Recreation Complex. Admission is free to the public.
The last time Iowa hosted the conference tournament was 2010. Big Ten fans can find the match schedule and follow along via scoring and streaming links on the Iowa women’s tennis B1G Championships page at hawkeyesports.com.
POKORNA CONTINUED SUCCESS
Barbora Pokorna leads the Hawkeyes with an 12-5 record, winning six of her last eight singles matches. She recorded back-to-back-to-back wins before a loss at Northwestern. Pokorna bounced back with three more singles wins, including a singles win against Michigan State’s Maja Pietrowicz, 6-4, 6-2, this past week. She most recently fell to Michigan’s No. 15 Kari Miller.
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 German 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 Rankings. 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.
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.