Molnar sparks women’s tennis
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The Iowa women’s tennis team looks to rebound this fall after a rough spring season in which it went 7-15 overall, 2-8 in the Big Ten.
What you should know
The squad may have had a disappointing fall season, but the Hawkeyes lost three matches by a point, and several others went down to the wire. Head coach Daryl Greenan has brought in another talented recruiting class as he begins his sixth season at Iowa.
“I’m excited about this coming season,” he said. “We have our whole lineup back with an extra year of experience with 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.”
Whom you should know
Kelcie Klockenga will be the team’s only senior who has been with the program all four years. She played at the No. 4 position as a junior, and she aims to be a key contributor in her final season in the Black and Gold.
“I’m excited about next year because I’m going to be a senior,” she said. “I think our team will be a little bit more mature; we won’t have so many underclassmen.”
Sophomore-to-be Sonja Molnar played every match for the Hawkeyes at the No. 1 position in the spring. She finished with an 19-4 singles record and a No. 91 national ranking. It seems very likely that she will spend every minute at the same spot in her sophomore year.
“Next year is going to be really exciting and fun,” she said. “I’m excited because hopefully I’ll be able to get my ranking up to top 25 — that would be nice. It will be tough because there are a lot of good players, obviously.”
Main rival
The team doesn’t have any in-state rivalries, but the majority of its matches during conference play are extremely competitive.
“We have rivalries with everybody in the Big Ten,” junior-to-be Alexis Dorr said. “The quality of play is pretty much on the same level, so we’re always competing and trying to get ahead of each other.”
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