THIS WEEK
The No. 58 ranked University of Iowa women’s tennis team will travel east this week to face No. 59 Penn State at the Sarni Tennis Center on Friday (2 p.m. ET) and No. 8 Ohio State on Sunday (Noon ET) at the Ty Tucker Tennis Center.
ON IOWA
The Hawkeyes are 8-7 overall and 3-2 in conference after splitting last week’s matches to Purdue and Indiana. The Hawkeyes swept Purdue (4-0) last Friday. Mannix/Mehra bounced Fodor/Norman. Schmidt/Hayashida finished out their doubles match at No. 2, beating Gallardo/Milic. They topped off the match with three straight set singles wins coming from Mehra, Hayashida, and Kranholdt. On Sunday, the Hawkeyes fell to Indiana, 4-2, despite securing the doubles point. Singles matches came close with Mannix winning her match in three sets and Schmidt closing in on her opponent in the second set with a tiebreaker, but ultimately losing, 6-2, 7-6(9).
FORMER HAWKEYE RETURNS
Former Hawkeye Elise van Heuvelen Treadwell was hired in December as assistant coach. Van Heuvelen Treadwell joins the Hawkeye coaching staff after serving as an assistant coach at Delaware since January 2022. She began her coaching career in the Fall of 2021 as a volunteer assistant coach with the Hawkeyes.
Van Heuvelen Treadwell concluded her Hawkeye career in the spring of 2021, as one of the most decorated women’s tennis student-athletes in Iowa and Big Ten history. Achieving an individual rank within the top-100 nationally in both singles and doubles, Van Heuvelen Treadwell ranks second all-time at Iowa with 180 combined wins. She was named first-team All-Big Ten five times and was the Big Ten Freshman of the Year in 2017.
In her final year, Van Heuvelen Treadwell earned the ITA Central Region Arthur Ashe Leadership and Sportsmanship Award. The East Sussex, England, native was also named the ITA Central Regional Senior Player of the Year in 2020 and was the ITA Summer National Doubles Champion in 2019.
SCOUTING PENN STATE
• Penn State is 10-9 overall and 2-3 in league play, with losses to Illinois, No. 8 Ohio State and No. 20 Wisconsin.
• Iowa leads the all-time series with Penn State, 27-9.
• Six of the 10 Nittany Lions are international players.
• The Nittany Lions have three underclassmen on their roster; one freshman and two sophomores.
• Junior Sofiya Chekhylstova is ranked No. 54 nationally in singles.
• Alexandra Anghelescu is in her fourth season as Penn State’s head coach.
SCOUTING OHIO STATE
• Ohio State is 12-5 this season and 5-0 in conference, and will play on Wednesday and Friday before competing hosting the Hawkeyes on Sunday.
• Five of the 12 Buckeyes are international players.
• Head coach Melissa Shaub has led the program to the last seven NCAA Tournaments.
• Sydni Ratliff (19) and Lucia Marzal (18) currently lead the team in singles wins.
• The Buckeyes lead the all-time series with Iowa, 28-23.