The ISU tennis team will head into a meet against Marquette on Feb. 8. A match against Western Michigan that was scheduled for Feb. 10 has since been canceled.

This will be the Cyclones’ second time this year facing Marquette, which may give the players an added insight.

Iowa State had last weekend off so the team has had time to prepare for the matches ahead.

“Well, I [feel] positive because we had a weekend off to prepare and we are to trying to work on some things and be better prepared on the court,” said Ksenia Pronina.

After a loss to Iowa in their first regular season match of the spring, the Cyclones are eager to learn from their mistakes and coach Armando Espinosa has been working to correct some of the issues seen against Iowa.

“Iowa was very aggressive and came out ready to play and we were, not necessarily flat, but we were just kind of waiting to see what they would do,” Espinosa said. “Now, we understand that we have to come from the first point and then just be ready to play. I think that is going to help us coming up to the next weekend.”

The team is now through the first match of the season and is hoping that more matches will bring more confidence.

“Usually in the first match you have some jitters and stuff, so hopefully by the second time you are a little bit more relaxed and ready to go,” Espinosa said.

Caroline Hauge Andersen is jitter-free and ready to move on in the season.

“It’s going to be really fun. I think we have a great chance this weekend both Friday and Sunday,” Andersen said. “We just need to go out there and show them that we want to win.”

The team hopes to see some wins in matches this weekend and also use what the team has worked on this week in practice as a guiding principle for the rest of the season ahead.

Espinosa is looking ahead to future matches and Big 12 play but feels it’s necessary not to overlook the match as a test for the team’s improvement.

“That’s what we are looking at for this upcoming weekend; trying to keep the energy up, be ready to go from the first point and if we can get those things going it will really help us for the future,” Espinosa said.