By Jake Markowitz
It was a disappointing return home for the Iowa men’s tennis team, which came out 1-2 for the second weekend in a row.
The weekend started in impressive fashion for the Hawkeyes (11-9, 1-4), taking down DePaul (11-9) in a commanding 7-0 victory on March 31. Everyone who competed for Iowa had success, including two unfamiliar faces.Senior Nils Hallestrand picked up his first win in his final spring season for the Hawkeyes in singles (6-2, 6-2). Also pulling out a victory was freshman Jason Kerst (7-5, 6-3). The four-star recruit out of Michigan is now undefeated in the two matches he has competed in.
“I’m always ready to compete as hard as possible every time we play,” Kerst said. “Coach [Ross] Wilson has always reminded me, and I think it has become a habit.”
The script was flipped in the nightcap when Iowa fell to No. 2 Ohio State, 7-0. Competing against three top-100 singles players and two top-60 ranked doubles pairs made life difficult for the Hawkeyes, who only forced a third set in one singles match.
Although Iowa was unable to pick up a win, there were some positive signs shown in the match. Continuing his rise, redshirt freshman Kareem Allaf was placed at No. 1 singles, where he was matched with No. 1 Mikael Torpegaard. Allaf didn’t win, but he never looked as though he didn’t belong, losing in a hard fought match (6-4, 7-5).
“Moving up in the lineup definitely helps my confidence, and the matches that I played in showed that I can compete at a top college tennis level,” said Allaf. “But where I play in the lineup is not my biggest concern. Winning the match is.”
Winning the match is exactly what Allaf was able to do when he stayed at No. 1 singles against Penn State (11-7, 2-1). Allaf defeated sophomore Constant De La Bassetiere, who hails from France (6-4, 7-5).
Junior Josh Silverstein and sophomore Jonas Larsen were also able to secure victories at No. 2 and No. 3. Larsen is now an impressive 12-5 on the season.
The success that the Hawkeyes experienced in singles did not carry over to the doubles matches, and Iowa was unable to come out victorious in any of the three doubles competitions. De La Bassetiere got his revenge when he paired with Christian Lakoseljac to defeat Allaf and Silverstein (7-5).
Larsen and junior Jake Jacoby also lost (6-3), and the senior tandem of Hallestrand and Robin Haden were down 5-4, but the match was left unfinished.
“It was a tough weekend,” Wilson said. “But we competed hard, and there’s positive signs moving forward.”
The Hawkeyes ultimately lost to Penn State, 4-3.
Iowa will be on the road again when it returns to action to compete against two ranked conference foes next weekend. On Saturday, Iowa will face No. 28 Illinois before moving north to take on No. 19 Northwestern on April 9.
