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31 T he University of Iowa men's tennis team will kick off its spring season ranked 43rd in the country featuring the No. 16 doubles tandem of Will Davies and Oliver Okonkwo and No. 60 individual Kareem Allaf. e doubles ranking is the highest in school history, along with a personal-best ranking for Allaf. Iowa proved its worth this fall by dominating most of the competition. Allaf in singles and Davies/Okonkwo and Matt Clegg/Nikita Snezhko advanced to the ITA Fall Nationals Tournament in November. Allaf won for straight regional matches to advance, as did Davies/Okonkwo. Clegg/Snezhko rattled off three straight to earn their spot. e Hawkeyes are coming off of one of their most impressive seasons in school history, boasting 18 wins, a program-best 14 coming at the Hawkeye Tennis & Recreation Complex. Iowa knocked off three ranked Big Ten foes and its fih place finish in the conference was the best in 20 years. Once again the Hawkeyes face a challenging schedule, playing 14 opponents who were ranked in the top 70 in last year's final ITA Rankings. Iowa will host 18 matches at the HTRC, beginning with Texas Tech in the season-opener Jan 16. "We have a lot of teams that we're playing this season that were in the top 60 and top 70 last year," said Mellecker Family Head Men's Tennis Coach Ross Wilson. "It starts with Texas Tech, a team we always have battles with. It's always 4-2, 4-3, so that will be a key match for us if we want to make NCAAs. If we're able to come out and play our best tennis it should be a good start to the season." Iowa missed the NCAA Tournament by one spot a season ago. e goal to make the tournament remains the same for Wilson and the Hawkeyes. "A lot of the guys from last year are hungry and motivated knowing we could have been in. ey were motivated all summer and those results showed in the fall." e Hawkeyes return seven student-athletes from last year's squad and welcome Clegg, a true freshman. Allaf, a senior, will be starting in the No. 1 spot for his second consecutive season to lead the team in singles. "He has improved mentally and match-by-match you will see a lot more consistent results from Kareem and more wins playing No. 1 for us," Wilson said. "at's something we've never had the last five or six years." Doubles has always been a staple of the program in the Wilson era. e Hawkeyes boast a plethora of quality doubles players. "Clegg has shown a lot of promise as a true freshman making ITA Nationals in doubles," Wilson said. "is is the deepest team (positions) 1-8, so whoever gets the call will be ready to go and put a point on the board for the team." JANUARY SCHEDULE Jan. 16 Texas Tech Jan. 18 Western Michigan/Creighton Jan. 25 Marquette/Omaha