WTEN Preview \\ at Illinois, Northwestern

THIS WEEK
The 49th-ranked University of Iowa women’s tennis team heads to the Land of Lincoln for its first Big Ten road trip. The Hawkeyes will take on No. 46 Illinois at 5 p.m. (CT) on Friday at the Atkins Tennis Center in Champaign, before facing No. 38 Northwestern on Sunday at noon (CT) at the Combe Tennis Center in Evanston.

FOLLOW LIVE
• Fans can follow the matches via live stats and updates will be provided on the Iowa women’s tennis’ X account at @iowa_tennis.

THE OPPONENTS
• The Fighting Illini are 6-7 overall and 1-1 in Big Ten play. Illinois opened league play with a 4-3 win at No. 60 Minnesota on March 7 before dropping a 4-1 decision at No. 17 Wisconsin on March 9, snapping the team’s three match winning streak. Illinois’ Violeta Martinez is the 114th-ranked singles player nationally.
• Northwestern brings an 8-6 record into the weekend, which includes a 1-1 mark in Big Ten play. The Wildcats split their opening weekend, falling 4-0 at No. 17 Wisconsin and beating the Golden Gophers, 4-3.

LAST MATCH
The Hawkeyes split their opening Big Ten weekend, downing Michigan State, 4-1, on March 7 before falling 4-0 against fourth-ranked Michigan on March 9.

QUICK HITTERS
• Iowa’s 7-4 start to the season is the best for the program since the 2018-19 campaign when the team won its first seven duals.
• Iowa is 6-0 this spring when opening the match by claiming the doubles points.
• Iowa returns six letterwinners from a team that won 13 matches and finished tied for sixth in the Big Ten standings during the 2024 season.
• Senior Barbora Pokorna remains undefeated in singles this spring, with five of her seven victories coming in straight sets. Pokorna has played at the Nos. 4-6 singles positions for the team.
• Sasha Boros is in her ninth season as Iowa’s head coach. The Iowa alum has guided the Hawkeyes to 96 victories during her eight-year tenure. She has 273 wins as a head coach in stops at Stetson, Missouri and Iowa.
• Boros is four wins shy of win No. 100 at Iowa. She will become the third Hawkeye head coach to reach the 100 career win mark.

IN THE RANKINGS
• Iowa is ranked No. 49 in the March 11 ITA team rankings -- its highest ranking of the season.
• Junior Tereza Dejnozkova is the lone Hawkeye in the rankings, coming in at No. 84 in singles.

TESS = BIG TEN PRESEASON PLAYER TO WATCH
Junior Tereza Dejnozkova has been named a Big Ten Preseason Player to Watch for the 2025 season. The Czech Republic native has posted a 12-7 overall singles and 8-7 doubles record this season, which included a third-place finish at the ITA Central Regionals in October. It was the highest finish by a Hawkeye all-time.
• Dejnozkova transferred to Iowa from South Alabama, where she was a second-team All-Sun Belt selection as a sophomore. She won 32 singles and 23 doubles matches during her two seasons.
• The Czech Republic native has posted a 6-3 record this spring with the six wins being tied for the second most on the team. She made her Hawkeye debut at the No. 1 singles position in the win over DePaul on Feb. 9.

DAI’S STRONG FALL
Junior Daianne Hayashida had a team-best seven singles victories during the fall season, posting a 7-3 overall record. She also won four matches, teamming with Marisa Schmidt in doubles.
• Hayashida won the consolation singles title at the ITA Sectionals in Ann Arbor in November.
• The Peru native is 6-4 in dual action this spring.
• Hayashida, who earned All-Big Ten recognition as a sophomore, has 45 career singles and 36 career doubles victories.

MARISA RETURNS
Senior Marisa Schmidt returns for her final season as a Hawkeye after posting a team-best 13-5 singles record during the 2024 season. She posted a 12-1 record at the No. 2 singles position a season ago.
• The Germany native has 43 career singles and 34 career doubles victories.