THIS WEEK
The University of Iowa women’s tennis team travels to Raleigh, North Carolina, this week to compete at the ITA Kickoff event, hosted at the J.W. Isenhour Tennis Center. Action will start at 3 p.m. (CT) against Clemson. Saturday’s outcome will determine Sunday’s opponent as the Hawkeyes will face either No. 7 NC State or Alabama.
FOLLOW LIVE
Fans can follow the matches via live streaming at track.tennis.com. Fans can also follow the action live via the Iowa women’s X account (@iowa_tennis), or on sidearmstats.com.
LAST MATCH
• The Hawkeyes dropped its road match last weekend at Notre Dame, falling 6-1 at the Eck Tennis Pavilion. The Fighting Irish claimed the doubles point and won five of the six singles matches. Iowa secured a point with a victory at the No. 3 singles line with junior Marisa Schmidt posting a 6-3, 6-2 straight-set win.
ITA KICKOFF: 2022
The Hawkeyes last showing at the ITA Kickoff Weekend was in 2022 in Athens, Georgia. At the time, Iowa sat at No. 41, and faced No. 42 Mississippi State, followed by No. 49 North Florida. The Hawkeyes lost 4-1 to the Bulldogs before posting a 4-3 win over UNF.
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.
SCOUTING CLEMSON
• Saturday’s dual will be Clemson’s fourth match of the 2023-24 season. The Tigers currently are 3-0 with wins over ETSU, Georgia State and Western Carolina.
• The Tigers sent three student-athletes to the 2023 ITA All-American Championship — Cristina Mayorova, Eleni Louka and Daniella Medvedeva. Mayorova fell in the first round to Hawkeye sophomore Daianne Hayashida, 6-4, 6-3.
• This will be the second meeting between Clemson and Iowa. The Hawkeyes are 0-1 in the series against the Tigers.
• Clemson’s head coach, Boomer Saia, is in his first season in South Carolina. Saia was previously the head coach at Iowa State for five seasons, taking the team to the NCAA quarterfinals in 2023.
UP NEXT
The Hawkeyes will spend next weekend in Denver, Colorado, facing Kansas State and Denver.