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127 I n the course of a year, Zoe Douglas went from battling to be in the singles lineup for the Uni- versity of Iowa women's tennis team to being the 92nd-ranked player by the Intercollegiate Ten- nis Association. "I came and was in-and-out of the lineup at the beginning," said Douglas, a junior from Papworth Everard, England. "at makes you want to work harder and do everything you can to get better and prove how much you can do to help the team." Douglas made her Hawkeye singles dual debut Valentine's Day in 2015, winning a straight-set decision over Montana's Catherine Orfanos. She went 4-1 in six matches at No. 6 singles before go- ing 1-0 at No. 5 and 1-3 at No. 4. "By the end of freshman year to move up into the lineup was a great feeling," said Douglas, who went 8-5 in her first season. "Over the summer I knew I had time to improve and had things to improve on. It drives you because you know you can im- prove, get better, and get higher in the lineup." Aer earning Iowa's Most Valuable and Most Improved Player honors as a freshman, Douglas climbed in the Hawkeye lineup and won. She started the spring 7-0 to gain that first career ITA ranking. "It's something I never thought of as a possibil- ity to get into the rankings," she said. "When it came out, I was a bit shocked. I was happy, but it continues to motivate you. You're like 'I can keep improving, I can get better.'" e ranking follows a tennis journey that began when Douglas was a youngster playing with her father. e Douglas' lived down the road from lo- cal tennis courts, and Douglas became fond of the sport. "My parents said I wouldn't get off the court," she said. "I remember going down with my dad all the time and hitting back-and-forth over the net. It started as family fun, socializing, and being active. "en you progress as a player and people start to say 'Oh, your kid is talented.' en your mom and dad drive you all around the country to try and get you to where you want to be." In high school, Douglas was the No. 1 singles player at Cambridgeshire and the eighth-ranked player in Great Britain. She won a doubles title at the National Road to Wimbledon and was a final- ist in three British Grade 2 doubles finals in 2014 and in the National Tour Grade 2 singles 18U competition. Douglas set her sights on continuing to play in the United States. She traveled to the coasts, visiting Boston and California as a teenager, but she had never been to the Midwest. She didn't know much about Iowa before visiting. "When I was younger and at the tennis facility back home, I would see players come to the United States, and I thought that would be awesome," said Douglas. "In high school, I went on a school trip to America and saw a couple of the colleges and thought they were incredible. "e facilities and opportunities here are unbeliev- able." Former Iowa head coach Katie Dougherty con- nected with Douglas through Tennis Smart, an organization that assists players from England to come to the United States. ere were Skype calls and emails before Dougherty traveled to England to watch Douglas play. "I came on a visit in August, 2014, and went to an Iowa football game," said Douglas. "It was great. (Dougherty) gave me an offer, and I couldn't re- fuse." Douglas has a 30-20 career singles record and a 52-44 doubles record in her first 2 ½ seasons. She has ascended to the No. 2 spot in Iowa's singles lineup as a junior and joins with freshman Elise Van Heuvelen to form the top doubles team.