The theme was aggressive play for the ISU tennis team in its home opener, a double header against Southeast Missouri State and Nebraska-Omaha, in which Iowa State didn’t lose a match.

Climate control factored heavily into the Cyclones’ strategy.

“When you play indoors you have to try and step up a lot more because you’re not going to have any elements disrupting how you play,” said freshman Lydia Green. “It’s going to be faster, so if you don’t step up you’ll end up hacking around the baseline, and you can’t do that forever.”

Iowa State’s aggression served not only as a plan of attack, but as a counter-attack strategy as well for junior Meghan Cassens.

“I tried stepping in a lot,”Cassens said. “The girl in the second match was very athletic and got to a lot of balls. By moving in, I took time away from her so she wasn’t able to get to as many balls as she would have otherwise.”

The call to aggressive play had the potential to backfire as ISU coach Armando Espinosa had cautioned that fatigue could play a factor in back-to-back meets.

Yet the Cyclones handled their business so efficiently in the first meet that there was plenty of gas left for the final push. Cassens talked about the role fatigue played, or rather didn’t play, for her on Friday.

“Both of my matches were pretty quick,” Cassens said. “I probably struggled more in the first match if anything.”

The approach worked as the Cyclones swept both Southeast Missouri State and Nebraska-Omaha, 6-0 and 7-0, respectively.

“I was very pleased with how we competed and with the energy we had,” Espinosa said. “Overall, I thought we played so much better than we did in Florida, so it was a great day.”

The results Friday in Ames were a significant improvement on Iowa State’s opening meet of 2014, in which the Cyclones fell to Florida Gulf Coast, 6-1.

“I think there was a big jump from the first day in Florida to now, but again, we’re playing under perfect conditions,” Espinosa said. “It’s so much easier, but we were able to capitalize.”

A young team, Iowa State plays three freshmen in the lineup, and gelling is important to current and future success, Espinosa said.

“We have a close knit group,” Espinosa said. “I’m very excited to see what they can do as the season progresses.”

Next up for the Cyclones is North Dakota. The two teams will meet Friday, Jan. 31 in Ames.

“We’ve seen [North Dakota] in different tournaments,” Espinosa said. “They’ll be another good team. Again, I don’t really care who we play. As long as we’re getting better, the wins should come.”