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113 T he University of Iowa women's tennis team made history at the end of February when it defeated Evansville and Western Illinois to improve to 9-0, the second-best start in pro- gram history. e best start came in 1990 when the Hawkeyes won their first 12 matches. "I think what's great about the season so far is that it is a sense of pride for the program and most importantly, for our players," said Iowa head coach Sasha Schmid. "ere's no doubt they have been pushed, sacrificed, and worked hard on and off the court." e Hawkeyes have cruised to their 9-0 start by blanking five teams in the process. e 2017 start was good enough for a No. 48 ITA National Team Ranking in the first computerized rankings of the season Feb. 21. "We are keeping a high standard and part of my job is to make sure we don't fall below that stan- dard day in and day out," said Schmid. "It's nice for the team to see rewards from that, and if that comes from an undefeated start or a national rank- ing, that's great." "I think it (the national ranking) gives the team confidence," said Iowa senior Natalie Looney. "It lets us know that everything we have been doing in practice is paying off." Iowa looks to continue the streak when the calen- dar flips to March and the Big Ten season opens at No. 42 Maryland. Along with the Hawkeyes, the Terrapins are one of five Big Ten teams ranked in the ITA poll. "We need to keep doing what we've been doing and stay hungry and focused," said Looney. "We can't panic too much about their rank or who the team is. We need to keep putting in the work and focus on things we can control." Nine of Iowa's 10 student-athletes have lived through a season in the Big Ten Conference. Freshman Elise van Heuvelen joins the Hawkeyes as the only member without Big Ten experience. Last season the Hawk- eyes suffered five one-point losses (4-3) in Big Ten play. "at's part of the development of a team," said Schmid. "Last year they were a young team with four freshmen. Losses like that happen when you have youth on your team. You go through some difficult matches, and they lost a lot of close ones, but they've progressed and I think they have grown since then." Iowa looks to build off of last season, and take the experiences they had and turn them into success this season. "We need to take the adversity and challenges we've faced and look at them in a positive way and use them to our advantage," said Looney. "We went through a lot of tough losses last year. at makes us better this year because we know we don't want to be in that position again." MARCH SCHEDULE March 4 at Maryland March 5 at Navy March 11 Indiana March 13 at Old Dominion March 18 at Florida International March 24 at Wisconsin March 26 at Minnesota March 31 Illinois