WTEN Preview \\ Northwestern, Illinois

THIS WEEK
The 45th-ranked University of Iowa women’s tennis team opens Big Ten play this weekend, hosting a pair of matches at the Hawkeye Tennis and Recreation Complex. The Hawkeyes will face Northwestern on Friday at 5 p.m. (CT) before taking on Illinois on Sunday at noon. Admission is free.

FOLLOW LIVE
• A live stream of both duals will be available on hawkeyesports.com via PlaySight.
• Fans can follow the matches live via StatBroadcast and updates will be provided on the Iowa women’s tennis’  X account at @iowa_tennis.

THE OPPONENTS
• Northwestern enters Friday’s match on a two-match winning streak and holds a 7-4 overall record. The Wildcats last win came on Feb. 22 against DePaul (6-1).
• During the 2025 campaign, the Hawkeyes secured its third all-time win over the Wildcats – its first since 1992 – with a 4-3 victory.
• Illinois is currently 4-6 overall with wins over Miami (Ohio), DePaul, Iowa State and Kansas City. The Fighting Illini will face Nebraska on Friday prior to Sunday’s dual.
• The Fighting Illini opened Big Ten play on Feb. 20 with a narrow 4-3 loss to No. 32 Wisconsin.

LAST MATCH
The Hawkeyes competed at the Red Blue Invite, earning two dual victories, including its first win over a ranked opponent this season. Iowa defeated Tulsa, 4-3, on Feb. 20, then split a doubleheader — defeating No. 40 Arizona, 4-3, before falling to No. 32 Texas Tech, 4-2.

QUICK HITTERS
• Iowa returns five letterwinners from a team that won 13 matches and finished tied for eighth in the Big Ten standings and earned an at-large berth into the NCAA Tournament.
• The Hawkeyes’  NCAA Tournament appearance was the first in 15 years. 
• Five of Iowa’s six wins this spring have come with the team claiming the doubles point.
• Sasha Boros is in her 10th season as Iowa’s head coach.  The Iowa alum has guided the Hawkeyes to 108 victories -- the second-most in program history behind Micki Schillig’s 112 wins. Boros has 285 wins as a head coach in stops at Stetson, Missouri and Iowa.

IN THE RANKINGS
• Iowa is ranked No. 45 in the March 3 ITA team rankings.
• Junior Mia Mack is ranked No. 87 in singles.
• Daianne Hayashida and Mack are ranked No. 25 in the March 3 ITA doubles rankings – a season best – while Hayashida and Tereza Dejnozkova come in at No. 90

MIA’S STRONG START
Germany native Mia Mack has gotten off to a strong start with the Hawkeyes, posting an 8-2 record in singles at the No. 1 and 2 lines and 7-3 at No. 1 doubles. 
• Mack has two singles wins over nationally ranked opponents and is 3-2 with Daianne Hayashida against ranked doubles foes.
• She opened her Hawkeye career by winning five of six matches during the opening weekend of the spring, going  3-0 in singles at the No. 2 spot and 2-1 in doubles at the No. 1 position.  Two of her victories came over ranked wins.
• Mack made her spring debut at the No. 1 singles position against Wichita State on Feb. 1.

ALL EYES ON DAI
Senior Daianne Hayashida was named to the Big Ten Preseason Player to Watch for the 2026 season. The Peru native posted a 5-4 record in singles and doubles during the fall.
• Hayashida won a team-best 20 singles matches during the 2025 season, earning her second first-team All-Big Ten honor. 
• Hayashida is 5-4 in dual action in singles and 7-3 in doubles, teaming with Mia Mack.  She has played at the No. 1 position in both singles and doubles.

TESS RETURNS
Senior Tereza Dejnozkova made her spring debut on Feb. 1 after missing the first six duals because of injury.  The Czech Republic native played at the No. 4 line in singles and the No. 2 doubles position with senior Pia Kranholdt.
• Dejnozkova was a second-team All-Big Ten selection in 2025 after winning 14 singles and 13 doubles matches during the season.