Tennis Hawks stay upbeat after disappointing season end
There is a fine line between winning and losing. The Iowa women’s tennis team found this out in the spring dual-meet season.
The Hawkeyes finished with a record of 7-15, 2-9 in the Big Ten, and they tied for ninth in the conference. The team lost to seventh-seeded Wisconsin, 4-2, in the first round of the conference tournament last week.
However, Iowa lost three conference meets by one match and two others by two matches.
Hypothetically, the squad could have finished with a 7-4 Big Ten record if it had pulled out another match or two.
On the other hand, the Hawkeyes’ two conference wins both came by the score of 4-3, so hypothetically, the team could easily be looking at a doughnut in the conference-wins column.
The most positive note for head coach Daryl Greenan and his Hawkeyes came when the season ended for them. Freshman Sonja Molnar was named the Big Ten Freshman of the Year, and she was one of five unanimous selections to the first team All-Big Ten. The Guelph, Ontario, native concluded her freshman season ranked No. 91 nationally with an 18-4 singles record, and at one point, March 3, she rose as high as 75.
“It feels good, obviously,” Molnar said. “It’s an achievement that not many people can say they were Freshman of the Year. I can still improve and could’ve done better. The losses could’ve been wins. Overall, I did well. I was able to pull out some wins even when I wasn’t playing well. It’s nice to get rewarded.”
One other Hawkeye also won an award. Freshman Ally Majercik was named as the team’s Big Ten Sportsmanship Award honoree, making her a candidate for that award.
“It was a good feeling,” she said. “I didn’t have a great season results-wise, but it’s nice to be recognized for something like that.”
The Hawkeyes began the season ranked No. 51 in the Jan. 6 national poll, then in the succeeding weeks moved to 50, 62, 58, 75. ON Feb. 24, they were out of the poll. But Iowa kept working hard and improving, which earned it a return to the rankings at No. 62 on March 3.
The next stint saw the team go from there to 70, 72, 63, 69 and drop out on April 7. Iowa never made it back, ending the season on a nine-meet losing streak.
Nonetheless, the players still have good memories. Sticking out is the team’s biggest win of the season, a 4-3 win over then-No. 43 Louisville in Milwaukee. Most importantly, the Hawkeyes showed the will to never give up regardless of circumstances.
“The most positive thing was that we kept getting better,” Majercik said. “We are disappointed with wins and losses and going down in first round of the tournament, but we’re not discouraged by the way the season went. We all got better, and we’re going to come back next year and, hopefully, turn it around.”
The future does look bright for Iowa — every contributing member is returning. Kelcie Klockenga will be the lone senior, and the junior class will be made up of Alexis Dorr, Lynne Poggensee-Wei, and Jessica Young, a group that was rated the No. 7 recruiting class in the country coming out of high school. Molnar and Majercik will be key cogs as sophomores. The Hawkeyes only lose two players in Jen Barnes and Merel Beelen, and they will add several new recruits in the fall.
While the women are enjoying some much needed free time, all returning players are planning on competing in several individual tournaments over the summer.
“I’m excited about this coming season,” Greenan said. “We have our whole lineup back with an extra year of experience and some new additions. I think we have the talent to compete with the top teams in the conference, to have a winning season, and hopefully make the NCAAs again for the first time since 2006.”
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