THIS WEEK
The University of Iowa women’s tennis faces Michigan State on its home court in Iowa City for the opening round of the Big Ten Championships. The match will be played on Wednesday at 2 p.m. (CT) at the Hawkeye Tennis & Recreation Complex.
Iowa defeated Michigan State in the regular season, topping the Spartans, 4-1. Fans can follow along via the B1G Championships page. It will be streamed on BTN+ for a fee.
ON IOWA… LAST TIME OUT
Iowa enters this week with a 6-16 overall record, after falling at No. 53 Nebraska last weekend. Eleven of Iowa’s defeats have come against ranked foes.
The duo of Samantha Mannix and Samantha Gillas were battling against Nebraska’s Makoric/Novak on court one before the match was called. Mannix and Gillias previously topped Michigan State’s Lewis/Pietrowicz, 6-3.
Barbora Pokorna and Samantha Mannix each won the first set in their singles matches on courts two and three, respectively, before play was called in the second set due to Nebraska clinching the match. Pokorna continued her strong play, and she has been victorious in six of her last eight decisions.
Pokorna and Michelle Bacalla fell for the first time in six matches. The duo was ahead in both their doubles matches against Michigan State and Michigan the previous week before their matches were called. They won their three previous matches.
IOWA TO HOST 2022 BIG TEN WOMEN’S TENNIS CHAMPIONSHIPS
The University of Iowa will host the 2022 Big Ten Women’s Tennis Championships. The event takes place this 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 on the Iowa women’s tennis B1G Championships page
MICHIGAN STATE BREAKDOWN
• Michigan State is 9-13 overall and 1-10 in the Big Ten.
• Michigan State is currently on a 10-match losing streak.
• Iowa has an overall record of 35-17 against Michigan State, recently winning earlier this month (4-1) in East Lansing.
• Michigan State has no student-athletes ranked in the ITA Singles or Doubles Tennis Rankings.
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. She fell to Michigan’s No. 15 Kari Miller and her match against Nebraska’s Isabel Gallego went unfinished.
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.