The ISU tennis team kicks off spring play this weekend in Florida. The Cyclones, who have not had match play since November, are eager to return to the courts with higher hopes than before.

“I truly believe we have one of the most talented groups I’ve ever had here in terms of full-striking abilities,” said coach Armando Espinosa. “It’s just trying to just put it into a match situation, that’s kind of where we are lacking.”

Espinosa is now working to piece the team and talents together to see what it can do with the addition of three players who were not in competition last year.

“I think we are just looking to do better than we did last year; the team has improved a lot even just from the fall,” said senior Jenna Langhorst. “[We are looking forward to] getting out there and competing and hopefully getting a couple more wins than we did last year and making a bigger impact in the Big 12.”

The team knows this time of year might bring challenges. As a school in Iowa, the team can only practice indoors this time of year.

“I think it is a little bit tougher right now with the whole realignment of the Big 12, us being one of the schools much farther north,” Espinosa said.

The Cyclones, who often compete against teams from farther south, have to acclimate themselves to different playing conditions brought by outdoor play. Variables such as weather and speed of game can change drastically when the team begins playing outdoors once again.

“I think we are all conditioning a lot harder, having longer practices and building more endurance,” Langhorst said in regard to preparing for spring play.

The team is also coming into this season as a more seasoned group; last year’s three freshmen will be competing this year with more experience behind them.

“I think it is kind of a learning curve, we had a lot of freshmen last year playing,” Espinosa said. “Now that they are going on their sophomore year, I hope they have learned something from last year so they are not just coming out fresh.”

Assistant coach Rodrigo Puebla said leadership and finishing strong will be the trick to a more successful season for the Cyclones this spring.

“What we lacked last year was a little bit of winning the last match and we fell a bit short at times,” Puebla said. “I think with the right leadership and training we should be getting a lot better.”

Armando and Puebla hope this weekend’s meet will work as an indicator for how to improve and piece together the team for the matches ahead and the quickly approaching match against Iowa.