The ISU women’s tennis team will continue its fall season this weekend at the UNI Invitational.

For the second consecutive week, all eight team members will be in action and ISU coach Armando Espinosa expects his team to continue to improve.

“I think now that everybody has a tournament under their belt, they should feel a little bit more relaxed,” Espinosa said.

The Gopher Invitational was the first collegiate tennis experience for freshmen Samantha Budai, Lydia Green and Talisa Merchiers.

The freshmen were able to fight off the nerves that came with their first career action, as Budai and Green took home third-place finishes in the “U” flight and Gopher flight, respectively.

Both Budai and Green lost to the eventual bracket champions before winning their third place matches.

“It went better than I thought,” Budai said of her first college tournament. “I was really nervous the first day, but after that, I kind of got use to everything.”

Budai expects to play even better as she continues to gain collegiate experience.

Espinosa was pleased with his team’s singles play but needs to see more improvement in doubles action. Doubles play has been a point of emphasis for the Cyclones throughout the fall season after struggling with doubles points last season.

“I still want to see more [improvement in doubles play],” Espinosa said. “I don’t think we’re even close to knowing who is going to play with who. There is still a lot of things we need to get better at.”

With all eight members competing this weekend, expect some new doubles matchups as Espinosa continues to look for the best combinations for his team.

Junior Ksenia Pronina suffered her first loss of the season in singles play against Minnesota’s Tereza Brichacova in three sets in the top flight championship match.

Two weeks into the fall season, Pronina is 6-1 with a first-place finish and a second-place finish.

“I feel like I’m moving better on the court and dictating the point more,” said Pronina, whose expectations for herself continue to rise. “I know that I can not only keep up with the girls at that level, but I have a good chance to beat them.”

Going into the UNI Invitational this weekend, the goal is the same as the previous two tournaments: just get better.

With freshmen players continuing to gain experience and the team continuing to play around with doubles matchups, Espinosa simply wants to see the team continue to improve in preparation for the spring season.

“Now that they know the expectations of what college tennis is about, I’m hoping that they can get a little bit better,” Espinosa said.