Both Iowa tennis teams will send their full rosters to the Intercollegiate Tennis Association Central Regional Tournaments today.
By James Geerdes
The Hawkeye tennis teams will hit the road as they head to their respective regional tournaments.
The men’s team will head to Minneapolis for its section of the tournament, which starts today and runs through Oct. 24. The women will play Oct. 19 through Oct. 22 in Lawrence, Kansas, in its side of the tournament.
Both squads are taking their full rosters, making it the first — and only — tournament of the fall season that the full rosters will be together.
“It’s the first event this fall where we get to go as a team,” women’s head coach Sasha Schmid said. “I’m excited about going to a tournament with all eight competing and to just see where we are at. It’s a really good test at a really important point during the fall season where we’ve really been able to train and develop ourselves.”
The women’s team hasn’t competed since Oct. 3 at the All-American, when it sent senior Zoe Douglas and sophomore Elise van Heuvelen. The duo is ranked No. 42 nationally in doubles.
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“We’re all playing, and we all want to do really well,” van Huevelen said. “It’s an individual tournament, but we are representing Iowa, so we want to play strongly.”
Schmid’s squad has played at three events this fall season. It opened with the Tribe Invitational at William and Mary, where freshman Yufei Long picked up a number of strong wins in her first college event.
Members of the team then went to the Milwaukee Tennis Classic, where Long again played well. She upset a No. 2 seed and eventually lost in the semifinals.
On Sept. 30, Schmid sent her seasoned doubles team of Douglas and van Huevelen to the All-American, where they beat teams from Harvard and Wake Forest.
The women’s team will play at the Jayhawk Tennis Center at Rock Chalk Park during its time in Lawrence.
The winners of the singles and doubles sections of the tournament will automatically qualify for the Oracel National Tournament in Indian Hills, California, on Nov. 1. There are also two wild cards for singles and doubles.
The men’s team will head to the Ridder Arena and Baseline Tennis Facility in Minneapolis for its section of the Central Regionals Tournament. The team will take all eight members of the squad on the road for the first time this fall season.
“I am really looking forward to bringing the whole team to Minneapolis,” assistant coach Matt Hagan said in a press release. “The past couple fall tournaments, we’ve only brought a few guys, so it’ll be great to have the whole team together supporting one another.”
The Hawkeyes are led by senior Josh Silverstein, who is ranked No. 66 nationally and will go into the regionals tournament seeded.
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He has competed in the Milwaukee Tennis Classic, where he lost in the quarterfinals to Minnesota’s Stefan Millicevic. At the All-American Championships, Silverstein lost in the round of 64 against Noe Khlif of Illinois.
“Josh has played well,” head coach Ross Wilson said. “Every single summer that he’s been here, he’s played in a lot of pro events. He played well in Milwaukee and won a qualifying match at the All-Americans. For him, it’s consistency — being able to win three or four or five matches in a row for him. [He needs to] show up every day with the same mindset, both mentally and physically.”
The Central Regionals will offer a shot at redemption for Silverstein.
“This fall has taught me that consistency is really important,” he said. “I’ve had some good wins and some good results, but I haven’t taken it as far as I would like to. I’ve won some good matches, but I haven’t made it too deep in any tournaments yet, and I’m hoping to change that this weekend.”
