THIS WEEK
The No. 53 ranked University of Iowa women’s tennis team will travel to the state of Illinois this weekend for their final regular season matches. The Hawkeyes will face No. 74 Northwestern on Saturday (noon CT) at the Combe Tennis Center in Evanston and 31st-ranked Illinois on Sunday (noon CT) at the Atkins Tennis Center in Champaign.
ON #53 IOWA
The Hawkeyes are 11-8 overall and 6-3 in conference after wins over Rutgers and Maryland last weekend. Iowa posted a 4-2 triumph over Rutgers. After capturing the doubles point, the Hawkeyes had wins on courts two, five and six. Kranholdt won in straight sets while Schmidt and Pokorna won in three sets. Iowa rallied for a 4-3 win against Maryland. After dropping the doubles point, the Hawkeyes registered victories on courts one, two, three and five. Mannix and Hayashida notched straight sets wins, while Pokorna and Schmidt won in three sets.
FINISHING STRONG AT HOME
Iowa finished its home schedule 7-2 at home this season, winning five of its final six home matches at the Hawkeye Tennis & Recreation Complex.
PLAYING TOP COMPETITION
Seven of Iowa’s last 10 matches have come against ranked opponents. The Hawkeyes have won five matches against ranked foes this season.
SCOUTING #74 NORTHWESTERN
• Northwestern is 9-12 overall and 5-4 in conference, with a pair of wins over ranked foes.
• Northwestern leads the series with Iowa, 49-2.
• The Wildcats have one ranked doubles team, No. 48 Christina Hand and Justine Leong (11-1).
• Only three of the eight players are international; two juniors and one sophomore.
• Claire Pollard is in her 23rd season and has a 476-152 record as head coach at Northwestern.
SCOUTING #31 ILLINOIS
• Illinois has a current record of 17-6 overall, including an 8-1 league mark. The Illini’s only conference loss was to No. 5 Michigan.
• Out of the nine matches against ranked opponents, the Illini have won four.
• Illinois owns a 32-26 advantage over Iowa in the series.
• The Illini have one ranked athlete and one ranked doubles team: No. 81 Ashley Yeah (16-10) and No. 15 Doung/Heuser (23-4).
• Evan Clark has been head coach since 2016, and is a two-time ITA Midwest Regional Coach of the Year.