THIS WEEK
The 62nd-ranked University of Iowa women’s tennis team heads north for a pair of Big Ten Conference duals this weekend. The Hawkeyes will face No. 29 Wisconsin on Friday at 4 p.m. (CT) at Nielsen Tennis Stadium in Madison before squaring off against Minnesota on Sunday at noon at the Baseline Tennis Center in Minneapolis.
FOLLOW LIVE
• Fans can follow stats both duals via StatBroadcast on hawkeyesports.com. A livestream will be available via UWBadgers.com for Friday’s match, and at Gophersports.com for Sunday’s match.
• Fans can also follow the action live via the Iowa women’s X account (@iowa_tennis).
LAST MATCH
The Hawkeyes split a pair of home duals last weekend against nationally-ranked opponents. Iowa opened the weekend with a 4-2 victory over No. 34 Illinois on Friday before being on the wrong end of a 4-1 loss to No. 35 Northwestern on Sunday. The Hawkeyes won four singles matches against the Fighting Illini with Barbora Pokorna and Daianne Hayashida closing out their matches simultaneously on courts three and one to give Iowa its second win over a ranked opponent this season.
• On Sunday, Iowa’s lone point against the Wildcats came via an impressive win from junior Marisa Schmidt at the No. 2 line. She downed No. 88 Justine Leong in straight sets, 6-0, 6-2.
TEAM DUBS
After starting the season with a 1-5 record, the Hawkeyes have won seven of their last nine duals, including three straight to open Big Ten Conference play. Iowa’s only losses during the stretch came against No. 52 Oregon (4-3) on Feb. 23 and No. 35 Northwestern (4-1) on March 24.
STRINGING Ws
• Junior Marisa Schmidt is riding a team-best eight-match winning streak in singles. She is a perfect 9-0 at the No. 2 line this season. Her nine singles wins are tops on the team.
• Senior Vipasha Mehra has won four straight — three being straight-set wins — and one in a third-set tiebreaker.
• Iowa is 14-6 in singles matches in Big Ten play this season.
A PERFECT PAIR
• Sophomore Pia Kranholdt and junior Barbora Pokorna have a team-best nine doubles victories this season. The duo has played at every spot in the doubles lineup, posting a 1-0 record at No. 1, 2-3 at No. 2 and 6-1 at No. 3.
ALL DAI
• Sophomore Daianne Hayashida has been Iowa’s No. 1 singles player throughout the spring, posting an 8-5 singles record. She is currently ranked No. 122 in the ITA singles rankings.
• 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.
SCOUTING NO. 29 WISCONSIN
• Wisconsin holds a 12-2 record this season and is 3-0 in Big Ten play. The Badgers’ only losses have come against No. 20 Georgia Tech and No. 6 Texas.
• Sophomore Maria Sholokhova sits at No. 78 in the national rankings, holding a 11-3 record at the No. 1 position.
• The Badgers are 14-1 in singles competition in Big Ten play.
• Doubles pair Rosie Garcia Gross and Taylor Cataldi are undefeated (6-0). As a team, Wisconsin is undefeated in doubles competition.
SCOUTING MINNESOTA
• Minnesota is 9-6 overall, 2-1 in Big Ten action and 6-1 in home duals.
• The Gophers dropped their first league match on March 16, falling 7-0 to Wisconsin in Madison.
• Sophomore Aiva Schmitz was named Big Ten Women’s Tennis Co-Player of the Week on March 13.
• The Gophers’ two Big Ten wins came at Indiana (4-3) and at No. 48 Purdue (4-1).
UP NEXT
The Hawkeyes will return home on April 6 to host Rutgers at noon at the HTRC.