THIS WEEK
The 73rd-ranked University of Iowa women’s tennis team will host Rutgers on Saturday at noon at the Hawkeye Tennis & Recreational Complex. Admission to the match is free.
FOLLOW LIVE
• Fans can follow the match via StatBroadcast on hawkeyesports.com. A live stream will be available via Playsight.com.
• Fans can also follow the action live via the Iowa women’s X account (@iowa_tennis).
LAST MATCH
The Hawkeyes dropped a pair of hard fought decisions against No. 29 Wisconsin and Minnesota. Iowa fell 4-0 to the Badgers on Friday in Madison and 4-1 to the Gophers on Sunday in Minneapolis.
SCHMIDT EARNS B1G HONOR
Junior Marisa Schmidt earned her first career Big Ten Player of the Week honor on March 27. She earned the distinction after going 2-0 in singles, which included a 6-0, 6-2 win over Northwestern’s 88th-ranked Justine Leong. The honor was Iowa’s first since 2021.
NEW CREWS
Iowa displayed a new doubles lineup at Minnesota and it resulted in two wins and an unfinished match that was tied at 6-6. Daianne Hayashida and Nikita Vishwase downed Zeyneb Sarioglan and Aiva Schmitz, 6-4, at No. 3 and Marisa Schmidt and Pia Kranholdt defeated pair Sofia Pizzoni and Sofia Pinto, 7-6 (2).
B1G SPLIT
• With just five regular season matches left, the Hawkeyes are currently 3-3 in Big Ten play. Two of the teams wins have come on the road and one at the HTRC.
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 of her last five matches — three being straight-set wins — and one in a third-set tiebreaker.
• Iowa is 14-13 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 8-6 singles record.
• 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 RUTGERS
• Rutgers holds a 10-8 overall record and is 1-6 in league play. The Scarlet Knights’ lone Big Ten win came against Michigan State (4-0).
• The Hawkeyes are 6-0 all-time against Rutgers, which includes posting a 4-2 victory last season.
• Last weekend, the Scarlet Knights dropped a pair of duals, falling to Ohio State and Penn State in a tight 4-3 loss.
• Kim Minchae (18-6) and Mai Nguyen (18-7) lead the team in singles this season.
UP NEXT
The Hawkeyes conclude their home schedule next weekend, hosting No. 12 Ohio State on April 12 and Penn State on April 14 at the HTRC.