WTEN Preview \\ at Maryland, Rutgers

THIS WEEK
The 28th-ranked University of Iowa women’s tennis team will head to the East Coast for a pair of Big Ten matches this weekend. The Hawkeyes will take on No. 74 Maryland at 2 p.m. (CT) at the Tennis Center at College Park, before facing Rutgers on Sunday at 11 a.m. (CT) at the Livingston Tennis Center.

FOLLOW LIVE
• A live stream of both duals will be available on hawkeyesports.com.
• 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 Terrapins are 11-9 overall and 4-4 in Big Ten play. Maryland posted 4-0 sweeps over Penn State on March 23 and Minnesota on March 30.
• Maryland leads the all-time series against Iowa, 5-4.
• Maryland head coach Katie Doughtery previously coached at Iowa for seven years, where she coached current Iowa assistant coach Elise van Heuvelen Treadwell.
• The Scarlet Knights are 7-9 overall and 1-7 in Big Ten play. Rutgers will take on Nebraska on Friday before Sunday’s dual against the Hawkeyes.
• Rutgers head coach Hilary Ritchie is in her ninth season with the Scarlet Knights and is a former Iowa letterwinner.

LAST MATCH
The Hawkeyes defeated No. 62 Nebraska, 4-1, at the Hawkeye Tennis and Recreation Complex on March 29. With the win, head coach Sasha Boros earned her 100th win as a Hawkeye, becoming the third Iowa coach to reach the milestone.

QUICK HITTERS
• Iowa’s 11-5 start to the season is the best for the program since the 2016-17 campaign when the team went 13-3 through 16 duals.
• Iowa is 9-1 this spring when opening the match by claiming the doubles points.
• Senior Barbora Pokorna leads the team in singles victories this spring with a 10-1 record with seven of her 10 victories coming in straight sets. Pokorna has played at the Nos. 4-6 singles positions.
• Sasha Boros is in her ninth season as Iowa’s head coach. The Iowa alum has guided the Hawkeyes to 100 victories during her eight-year tenure. She has 277 wins as a head coach in stops at Stetson, Missouri and Iowa. With her next victory, Boros will move into a tie for second place on Iowa’s career wins list.

IN THE RANKINGS
• Iowa is ranked No. 28 in the April 1 ITA team rankings -- its highest ranking of the season, the highest ranking of the Boros era and the highest team ranking since 2010.
• Juniors Daianne Hayashida and Tereza Dejnozkova are featured in the singles rankings - Hayashida comes in at No. 111, while Dejnozkova is No. 115.

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 14-9 overall singles and 11-9 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 an 8-5 record this spring with the eight wins being tied for the third-most on the team. She made her Hawkeye debut at the No. 1 singles position in the win over DePaul on Feb. 9.
• Dejnozkova was named the Big Ten Co-Player of the Week on March 19 after posting a 4-0 record in Hawkeye wins over No. 46 Illinois and No. 38 Northwestern. She clinched Iowa’s 4-3 win over Northwestern, the program’s first over the Wildcats in 15 years.

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 9-4 in dual action this spring.
• Hayashida, who earned All-Big Ten recognition as a sophomore, has 48 career singles and 40 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 46 career singles and 38 career doubles victories.