The UNI men return to Missouri Valley play on Wednesday night by hosting Illinois-Chicago. Both teams are 1-3 in conference play and the Flames are 8-7 overall.

That’s UNI coach Ben Jacobson who says defense remains a problem for his team.

The Drake men look to bounce back from their first Missouri Valley loss on Wednesday night when they host Indiana State. The Bulldogs are coming off a 22-point loss at Belmont and host a Sycamore team that is 4-0 in the Valley.

That’s Drake coach Darian DeVries who says the Bulldogs will need a big effort defensively.

Drake is 3-1 in the Valley and 12-3 overall.

The winter storm changed the travel plans for the third ranked Iowa women’s basketball team. The Hawkeyes play at Purdue Wednesday night and coach Lisa Bluder says they traveled to West Lafayette on Monday.

The Hawkeyes are 15-1 overall and 4-0 in the Big Ten. Purdue is 2-1 in the conference and 9-5 overall. They are 8-0 at home.

Bluder says it will be a difficult road test for the Hawkeyes.

THIS WEEK 

The University of Iowa women’s tennis team will kick off its spring season this weekend in Fort Myers, Florida. The Hawkeyes will face Florida Atlantic in the season opener on Friday at noon (CT) before squaring off against Florida Gulf Coast on Saturday at 9 a.m.

FOLLOW LIVE 

Fans can follow the duals via live scoring at ioncourt.com. Fans can also follow the action live via the Iowa women’s X account (@iowa_tennis).

THE LINEUP 

The Hawkeyes will be introducing three new student-athletes this season — two freshmen and one transfer. Six of the eight players on this year’s roster are international, ranging from Canada to Germany.

A REVIEW 

• Iowa posted seven victories against ranked opponents during the 2022-23 season, including a 4-1 victory over No. 31 Illinois in Champaign.

• Iowa finished the regular season tied for fifth place in the Big Ten standings, marking the second time in three seasons that the program has placed fifth or better. 

HAYASHIDA AT ITAS 

• Sophomore Daianne Hayashida, who is ranked 109th in the ITA singles rankings, had a strong showing at the ITA Midwest Regionals this fall, advancing her way to the quarterfinals.

• She was the first Hawkeye to advance to the regional quarterfinals since Elise van Heuvelen in 2019. Hayashida defeated her first two opponents in straight sets before falling to Oklahoma’s Dana Guzman.

HAWKEYEYES RETURNING 

• Iowa welcomes back its No. 1 singles player Marisa Schmidt, who went 5-5 in 10 matches at the top singles spot a season ago. Schmidt also tied for the team lead with three doubles wins at the No. 1 doubles position.

• Sophomore Daianne Hayashida went 10-3 in dual action in 2023, going 4-0 at No. 3 singles and 5-2 at No. 4 singles. 

MEHRA’S SENIOR SEASON 

Senior Vipasha Mehra begins her senior season with 31 career singles victories and 36 career wins in doubles. The Calgary, Canada, native is the lone senior and one of three upperclassmen on the Hawkeyes’ 2024 roster.

NIKITA THE HAWKEYE 

Sophomore Nikita Vishwase, a transfer from LSU, will make her Hawkeye debut when she takes the court this spring. The Arizona native didn’t compete in the fall because of injury. In Baton Rouge, Vishwase was an ITA Southern Regional doubles champion and she posted 16 wins in singles and 22 wins in doubles. She was ranked as high as No. 7 nationally in the ITA doubles rankings in November of 2022. 

SCOUTING FLORIDA ATLANTIC 

• The Owls posted an 8-14 overall record and went 0-2 in conference action during the 2023 season.

• FAU’s doubles team of Victoria Gomez O’Hayon and Mille Mae Matthews advanced to the 2023 ITA Southeast Regional semifinals.

• Freshman Panna Bartha advanced to the 2023 ITF Tournament semifinals in the singles draw.

• Friday’s meeting will be the first between Iowa and FAU.

SCOUTING FLORIDA GULF COAST 

• The Eagles posted a 16-7 overall record and went 6-2 in the Atlantic Sun Conference. FGCU went 11-2 on its home courts.

• FGCU hosted the Bonita Bay Classic during the fall, posting two wins over Purdue and three over Notre Dame.

• Iowa is 1-0 all-time against FGCU, winning 5-2 in Fort Meyers during the 2019 season. 

UP NEXT 

The Hawkeyes will return to action on Jan. 20, traveling to South Bend, Indiana, to face Notre Dame beginning at 10 a.m.

IOWA CITY, Iowa – University of Iowa women’s wrestler, Sterling Dias has been named the National Wrestling Coaches Association (NWCA) Region Wrestler of the Month, as announced Tuesday by the organization.

In the month of December, Dias was undefeated with nine wins. She went 3-0 at the Las Vegas Desert Duals where she picked up one ranked win and two wins via pin. At the second-annual Soldier Salute Dias took first-place at her weight, securing three technical falls and two pins on her way to the title. Dias is currently ranked second in the 101-weight class and holds an 18-1 record on the season.

The Las Vegas, Nevada native also helped the Hawkeyes to a NWCA National Duals title this past weekend, securing two top-ten wins.

The Hawkeyes are set to host their second dual in Carver-Hawkeye Arena on Sunday, January 21st. Iowa will face Life University and Missouri Valley College. The dual will begin at 2 p.m. CT and will be streamed on B1G+ (subscription required).

Full meet notes for this weekend’s Hawkeye Invitational. The meet begins at noon on Friday with the weight throw and shot put at the Hawkeye Tennis and Recreation Complex (HTRC). Competition resumes on Saturday at the Hawkeye Indoor Track Facility with field events beginning at 11 a.m. (CT) and running events starting at 12:15 p.m. Iowa welcomes Ball State, Bradley, Central Methodist, Indian Hills, Iowa Central, Iowa State, Lindenwood, Northern Illinois, South Dakota and UNI.

FOLLOW ALONG: Saturday’s action will be streamed on BTN+ (subscription required). Results for the entire meet can be found at the live stats link on the track and field schedule page at hawkeyesports.com. Updates are posted on the team’s official ‘X’ account (iowaXC_TF).

IOWA CITY, Iowa – University of Iowa student-athletes Sterling Dias (women’s wrestling) and Real Woods (men’s wrestling) were named December’s Student-Athletes of the Month, the Iowa Student-Athlete Advisory Committee announced.

Dias, a sophomore from Las Vegas, is ranked No. 2 in the nation in the 101-pound weight class. She knocked off two ranked opponents on her way to a 9-0 record in December. Dias recorded seven bonus-point victories, including four pins and three technical falls. She went 3-0 at the Las Vegas Desert Duals before going 6-0 and claiming the 101-pound title at the Soldier Salute. Overall, Dias is 18-1 on the season.

Woods, a redshirt senior from Albuquerque, New Mexico, is the top-ranked wrestler at 141 pounds. Woods registered six wins in December (three technical falls and three decisions), outscoring his opponents 70-10. He claimed wins over the No. 5, 11 and 18 ranked wrestlers and was the 141-pound champion at the Soldier Salute.

IOWA CITY, Iowa – University of Iowa forward Owen Freeman has been named the Big Ten Freshman of the Week, it was announced Monday by the league office.  The honor is Freeman’s fifth of the season.

The Moline, Illinois, native earned the distinction after averaging 14.5 points, 8.5 rebounds and 2.5 blocks, while shooting 75 percent from the field during two Big Ten games against No. 21 Wisconsin and Rutgers.

Freeman opened the week by posting his second double-double, finishing with 14 points and a career-high 13 rebounds in Madison.  He made 7-of-9 field goals and finished with three blocks in a career-high 37 minutes.  He became the first Hawkeye freshman since Luka Garza to post multiple double-doubles.

In Iowa’s win over Rutgers, Freeman made 5-of-7 field goals and 5-of-6 free throws to finish with 15 points and four rebounds, helping head coach Fran McCaffery to his school record 127th career Big Ten victory.  He also had two blocks, moving into the top eight in program history by an Iowa freshman.

Through his first 15 collegiate games, Freeman has been the top freshmen in the conference, leading the league in points (155), rebounds (85) and blocks (30), while ranking second in steals (17) and field goal percentage (.633).

The honor is Iowa’s sixth Big Ten weekly accolade this season.  Freeman previously earned the honor on Nov. 13, Nov. 20, Dec. 4 and Dec. 18, while graduate Ben Krikke was the Big Ten Player of the Week on Nov. 20.

Freeman’s five Big Ten Freshman of the Week honors are tied for the ninth-most in league history. They are the most accolades since Nebraska’s Bryce McGowens was honored seven times during the 2021-22 season.

The Hawkeyes (9-6, 1-3) return to action Friday, hosting Nebraska at 8:30 p.m. (CT) on Mediacom Court inside Carver-Hawkeye Arena.

Drake coach Darian DeVries and UNI coach Ben Jacobson says the Missouri Valley Conference is much improved this season. The Valley is ranked as the ninth best conference in the country right now and the Bulldogs suffered their first league loss on Sunday 87-65 to a Belmont team that has the look of a contender.

That’s Drake coach Darian DeVries. The Bulldogs are 3-1 and host an Indiana State team on Wednesday night that is at the top of the standings with a 4-0 record.

UNI is 1-3 in the Valley after Sunday’s 77-66 loss at home to Indiana State.

That’s Panther coach Ben Jacobson who says the Valley is much better this season.

The Panthers are at home on Wednesday night to host Illinois-Chicago.

After opening Big 12 play with a loss at ninth ranked Oklahoma the Iowa State Cyclones will try to hold serve at home on Tuesday night. It won’t be easy. The Cyclones play host to second ranked and conference newcomer Houston.

That’s ISU coach T.J. Otzelberger who says the Big 12 race will be a grind.

Houston is 14-0 and opened the conference race with a 34-point win over West Virginia. Like the Cyclones, the Cougars pride themselves on defense.

Otzelberger says another strength of Houston is depth.

Otzelberger says the key in surviving a tough Big 12 Conference is handling adversity.