IOWA CITY, Iowa -- The University of Iowa men's tennis team dropped a 5-2 decision to undefeated Western Michigan Friday evening at the Hawkeye Tennis & Recreation Complex.
Iowa picked up the doubles point to start the match. Junior Jonas Larsen and redshirt sophomoreKareem Allaf reeled off their seventh win together. The match went to a tiebreaker when the duo strung together a six-point stretch and ultimately won the match on court one, 7-6(1), to clinch the doubles point. Freshman Joe Tyler and senior Jake Jacoby also notched a victory in doubles, winning 6-4 on court three.
In singles, Tyler posted another win for the Hawkeyes. The freshman registered a straight set victory, 6-4, 7-5, on court four.
With Iowa trailing 3-2, Will Davies and Jacoby dropped hard-fought matches in three sets.
NEXT MATCH
Iowa will travel to Athens, Georgia, for their second straight ITA Kickoff Event. The Hawkeyes will challenge nationally-ranked Georgia on Jan. 28.
QUOTING HEAD COACH ROSS WILSON
“At No. 1 doubles, (Kareem and Jonas) stepped up and won a tough doubles point for us. We have eight good players and we need guys to improve so things can get better so we can have the type of season we want to have.”
Western Michigan 5, Iowa 2
Jan. 19, 2018 | 6 p.m. | Iowa City, Iowa | HTRC
Singles
1. Maik Steiner (WMU) def. Josh Silverstein (UI): 7-5, 7-5
2. Kennosuke Nouchi (WMU) def. Piotr Smietana (UI): 7-6, 6-1
3. Jannik Opitz (WMU) def. Kareem Allaf (UI): 6-4, 7-6(2)
4. Joe Tyler (UI) def. Lenhard Haupt (WMU): 6-4, 7-5
5. Will Davies (UI) def. Erik Olivarez (WMU): 6-4, 3-6, 6-3
6. Matej Svjetlicic (WMU) def. Jake Jacoby (UI): 6-2, 7-5, 6-2
Doubles
1. Allaf/Larsen (UI) def. Steiner/Opitz (WMU): 7-6(1)
2. Olivarez/Schnubel def. Smietana/Davies (UI): 6-4
3. Tyler/Jacoby (UI) def. Nouchi/Heckman (WMU): 6-4
Match Notes:
Iowa: 1-1
Western Michigan: 3-0
Order of finish: Doubles (3,2,1); Singles (4,2,3,1,6,5)