THIS WEEK
The University of Iowa women’s tennis team will head to South Bend, Indiana, on Saturday to face Notre Dame at the Eck Tennis Pavilion. Competition will start at 10 a.m. (CT).
FOLLOW LIVE
Fans can follow the matches via live streaming at fightingirish.com. Fans can also follow the action live via the Iowa women’s X account (@iowa_tennis).
THE LINEUP
The Hawkeyes will be introducing three new student-athletes this season — two freshmen and one transfer. Six of the eight players on this year’s roster are international, ranging from Canada to Germany.
LAST MATCH
After getting rained out in their season opener against Florida Atlantic, the Hawkeyes notched their first win – a 5-2 road victory at Florida Gulf Coast on Jan. 13. Iowa won the doubles point and recorded singles victories at No. 1, 2, 4 and 6 in singles.
DAI: NATIONALLY RANKED
• After winning five matches during the fall season, sophomore Daianne Hayashida earned a spot in ITA’s singles rankings. The Peru native was ranked No. 109 in the nation in the rankings that were released on Nov. 15.
• Hayashida opened the spring as Iowa’s No. 1 singles player, where she posted a straight set win in her opening match.
• During the fall, Hayashida advanced to the quarterfinals of the ITA Midwest Regionals and she competed in the main draw of the ITA Women’s All-American Championships in September. She was the first Hawkeye to advance to the regional quarterfinals since Elise van Heuvelen in 2019.
A REVIEW
• Iowa posted seven victories against ranked opponents during the 2022-23 season, including a 4-1 victory over No. 31 Illinois in Champaign.
• Iowa finished the regular season tied for fifth place in the Big Ten standings, marking the second time in three seasons that the program has placed fifth or better.
HAWKEYEYES RETURNING
• Iowa welcomes back its No. 1 singles player Marisa Schmidt, who went 5-5 in 10 matches at the top singles spot a season ago. Schmidt also tied for the team lead with three doubles wins at the No. 1 doubles position.
• Sophomore Daianne Hayashida went 10-3 in dual action in 2023, going 4-0 at No. 3 singles and 5-2 at No. 4 singles.
NIKITA THE HAWKEYE
Sophomore Nikita Vishwase, a transfer from LSU, will make her Hawkeye debut when she takes the court this spring. The Arizona native didn’t compete in the fall because of injury. In Baton Rouge, Vishwase was an ITA Southern Regional doubles champion and she posted 16 wins in singles and 22 wins in doubles. She was ranked as high as No. 7 nationally in the ITA doubles rankings in November of 2022.
SCOUTING THE FIGHTING IRISH
• Saturday’s dual is Notre Dame’s season opener. The Fighting Irish posted a 16-11 record in 2023.
• The Fighting Irish had five student-athletes compete at the ITA All-American Championships — Page Freeman, Julia Andreach, Carrie Beckman, Rylie Hanford and Yashna Yellayi.
• Freeman earned third-team All-ACC honors a season ago after posting a 19-11 singles record
• Beckman, Andreach and Freeman each played in the 2023 NCAA Championships.
• The Hawkeyes are 2-20 in the all-time series against Notre Dame.
UP NEXT
The Hawkeyes will continue on the road on Jan. 27-28, traveling Raleigh, North Carolina, for the ITA Kickoff event. Iowa will face Clemson in its first match of the weekend before squaring off against either NC State or Alabama.