Iowa Downs Furman in Season Opener, 4-1

GREENVILLE, S.C. – The University of Iowa women’s tennis team opened the 2026 season with a 4-1 victory over Furman on Saturday morning at the Sheffield Indoor Tennis Center.

Furman opened the match by claiming the doubles point. On court one, No. 16 Sasha Dimitrov and Lillie Murphy defeated Daianne Hayashida and Mia Mack, 6-1 and Bianca Ceroni and Elle Warren followed on court two with a 6-2 win over Pia Kranholdt and Emma Tothová to clinch the point.

The Hawkeyes responded by winning four singles matches to secure the dual. Kranholdt earned Iowa’s first point with a 6-4, 6-0 victory over Dimitrov on court four. Hayashida followed on court one, defeating Warren, 6-1, 6-4.

Tothová extended the Hawkeyes lead to 3-1 with a 6-1, 6-4 victory over Hitchcock on court three.

Mack, who joined the team in January, clinched the victory on court two with a hard-fought 7-6 (2), 2-6, 6-4 win over Murphy.

The remaining singles matches were left unfinished. On court five, Ceroni held a 6-4, 2-4 lead over Vishwase, while Robinson was leading Xu, 6-3, 2-2.

QUOTING HEAD COACH SASHA BOROS 
"This was a great, hard-fought match to start the season on the road. I have a lot of respect for Furman, they played a great, aggressive doubles point. We had to find our footing in singles. It was really hard-fought on courts one through four to get four points on the board. We’re excited to build on this momentum and head to Duke.”

UP NEXT 
Iowa will travel to Durham, North Carolina, for two dual matches on Monday at the Sheffield Indoor Tennis Center. The Hawkeyes will face No. 8 Duke at 8:30 a.m. (CT) before taking on NC Central at noon.

IOWA 4, FURMAN 1 

SINGLES RESULTS
No. 1 - Daianne Hayashida (UI) def. Elle Warren (FUR): 6-1, 6-4
No. 2 - Mia Mack (UI) def. Lillie Murphy (FUR): 7-6(2), 2-6, 6-4
No. 3 - Emma Tothová (UI) def. Macy Hitchcock (FUR): 6-1, 6-4
No. 4 – Pia Kranholdt (UI) def. Sasha Dimitrov (FUR): 6-4, 6-0
No. 5 – Nikita Vishwase (UI) vs. Bianca Ceroni (FUR): 4-6, 4-2 (unfinished)
No. 6 – Sally Xu (UI) vs. Molly Robinson (FUR): 3-6, 2-2 (unfinished)
Order of Finish: 4,1,3,2

DOUBLES
No. 1 - No. 16 Dimitrov/Murphy (FUR) def. Hayashida/Mack (UI): 6-1
No. 2 - Ceroni/Warren (FUR) def. Kranholdt/ Tothová (UI): 6-2
No. 3 - No. 82 Bex/Vishwase (UI) vs. Hitchcock/Robinson (FUR): 4-3 (unfinished)
Order of Finish: 1,2