The aspirations are as high as the expectations among the ranks of the ISU tennis team, as it begins the second half of a long season.

The Cyclones hit the court running in 2014, escaping the bitter cold of Ames to compete in sunny Florida at the FGCU Spring Invite last weekend, where they claimed runner-up finishes in Flight A singles as well as Flight A doubles.

ISU coach Armando Espinosa praised his team’s effort at FGCU after a month-long hiatus, but many of the team’s goals still lie ahead.

“We have pretty lofty goals,” Espinosa said. “We want to make sure we have a big impact in the Big 12. We have the firepower to do that … but it’s going to be a matter of how well we come together as a team. I think if we can finish in the top half of the conference, that would be pretty good.”

The Big 12 is historically a strong tennis conference, and it is loaded with talent once again this year, Espinosa said. The stiffest competition is likely to come from Texas Tech, who won the regular season title last year, and Baylor, who claimed the conference tournament title in the 2012-13 season.

“The conference is really tough,” Espinosa said. “I think all the Texas schools will be tough, and there have been some changes in leadership at the University of Kansas and at West Virginia that will make [success in the conference] even more difficult.”

As far as aspirations beyond conference play, Espinosa mentioned nationals, with the caution that they are still a long way off.

“Nationals is the long term goal, but that would be pretty lofty [to talk about] now,” Espinosa said. “There’s certainly a chance. If we come together … we should be competitive, and may be able to accomplish that.”

There is a lot being learned in practice week to week and continued progress will be the focus, as the Cyclones are a relatively young team, Espinosa said.

“We may have three freshman in the lineup and only one senior,” Espinosa said. “We’re playing with mostly juniors and freshman.”

One of those freshman is Samantha Budai, who has found her way to the No. 2 singles position and is also part of No. 1 doubles, playing alongside junior Ksenia Propina.

A native of Canada, Budai moved to the United States just last year. She talked about the cultural differences, particularly at universities in the two countries and in their attitudes towards athletics.

“Iowa State is really different compared to universities in Canada because they all take sports really seriously here, which I like, so it’s been a really amazing experience,” Budai said.

Budai’s partner in crime on the doubles court, Pronina, plays in the No. 1 singles slot for Iowa State. Pronina has validated her position by winning a tournament earlier this season at Drake, and finishing as the runner-up both at Minnesota, as well as last weekend at Florida Gulf Coast.

“After a long break since the last tournament, I was pretty happy I made it to the finals,” Pronina said. “It helped me to see I’m still in good shape, and it gives me confidence.”

Pronina’s individual goals mirror those that her coach holds for the team as a whole, specifically in terms of Big 12 success.

“I never play very well in the Big 12,” Pronina said. “In two years, I think I’ve won three matches in the conference, so it would be great if I could get a few more wins. Until then, I’m going to take every match one at a time and try to do my best to leave it all out on the court.”

As impressive as top flighted players Pronina and Budai have been, the entire team has shown the ability to compete at a high level, Espinosa said.

“Ksenia has had the most success in terms of the level of tennis being played, but Ana Gasparovic, Samantha Budai and Lydia Green have won a lot of matches too,” Espinosa said. “We only have one or two people with a record below .500, so that’s kind of exciting. Now we have to make sure they can keep those records going through the Big 12.”

Espinosa expects that the leadership required can, and likely will, come from multiple players.

“I think anybody can lead. I think everybody leads by example,” Espinosa said. “We have some people we call gamers who may not practice the best, but show up to play and compete. We have some others who train hard, but when it’s time to play get nervous. We have both, and we need to put it all together.”

Iowa State tennis will take on Southeast Missouri State and Nebraska-Omaha starting at 9 a.m. Jan. 24 in Ames.