THIS WEEK
The No. 58 ranked University of Iowa women’s tennis team will host its final home matches this weekend against Rutgers and No. 62 Maryland. The Hawkeyes will play Rutgers on Friday (5 p.m.) and Maryland on Sunday (10 a.m.) at the Hawkeye Tennis & Recreational Complex. Admission is free to both matches. Before the match on Sunday, Iowa will honor its two seniors.
ON IOWA
The Hawkeyes are 9-8 overall and 4-3 in conference after splitting last week’s matches to Penn State and Ohio State. The Hawkeyes kept it close against Purdue on Friday, winning 4-3. After gaining the doubles point, Iowa captured three singles wins. Marisa Schmidt notched a straight set victory against her opponent Zuffova (6-2, 6-4). Hayashida followed with another straight set win against Gheorghita (6-0, 7-5). Anchoring the singles competition with the match tied 3-3, Mehra took her singles match to a tiebreaker in the second set, but was edged, 7-5. In the third and deciding set, Mehra came out on top (6-4, 6-7, 6-3) to give the visitors the win. On Sunday, Ohio State swept the competition winning 4-0. Iowa fell in all of their doubles and singles competition, losing in straight sets in the singles matches.
HONORING THE SENIORS
Samantha Mannix has been a reliable mainstay in the Hawkeye lineup for every match over the course of her five-year career. She was a three-time Academic All-Big Ten honoree; two-time ITA Scholar Athlete; 2021 B1G Sportsmanship Award nominee and a Big Ten Distinguished Scholar in 2022. Mannix also served as ISAAC Representative from 2021-2023, and in leadership on the Executive Board, 2022-2023 as the Academic Success Chair. Mannix was a seven-time Dean’s List recipient and earned President’s List distinction four times.
Anya Lamoreaux transferred to Iowa after playing four years at the University of Utah. She saw time on courts five and six this season for the Hawkeyes. During her time with the Utes, Lamoreaux amassed 35 singles wins and 32 doubles victories in dual match competition. She was an ITA Scholar Athlete and Pac-12 Academic Honor Roll honoree.
PLAYING TOP COMPETITION
Eight of Iowa’s last 10 matches have come against ranked opponents. The Hawkeyes have won four matches against ranked foes this season.
SCOUTING RUTGERS
• Rutgers is 9-8 overall and 0-6 in the Big Ten.
• Iowa has only met Rutgers five times before and have won every match in the series.
• Four of the eight Scarlet Knights are international players; one freshman, one sophomore, and two juniors.
• Jackeline Lopez (17) and Amira Badawi (16) lead the team in singles wins.
• Hilary Ritchie is in her seventh season as Rutgers head coach and is also an Iowa letterwinner.
SCOUTING MARYLAND
• The Terrapins are currently 14-6 overall and 3-4 in Big Ten.
• Maryland owns a narrow 5-3 advantage in the series with Iowa.
• Five of the eight players are international players; the rest hailing from Florida and Maryland.
• Katie Dougherty is in her fourth season as the Maryland head coach.
• Dougherty was previously head coach of Iowa for seven years, and coached former player and current Iowa assistant coach Elisa Van Heuvelen.