The ISU tennis team was expected to win Friday against Missouri, but its hopes were dashed in a 6-1 loss.

Going home with a result the team wasn’t expecting wasn’t easy, but the players and coaches said they won’t let it set them back.

“It was a rough meet because we had really high expectations; this was a match we really thought we were going to win,” said ISU senior Maria Fernanda Macedo. “It was a tough loss, but we just need to keep working and keep learning from it. We played a little bit better in doubles, so that was good.”

Although the team didn’t win its meet Friday, there are a few positives for the team to take from the loss.

The Cyclones (3-15, 0-5 Big 12) won one of its three doubles matches on Friday after being swept in the two previous meets. Doubles play has been a point of emphasis for the team all season long and especially last week when the team had time off.

Along with winning a doubles match, the team won a singles match and came close in a few others.

“One of the things that the team is taking from Friday is strategies and to keep doing in the match what we’ve been working on in practice,” said ISU sophomore Simona Cacciuttolo. “All the pressure you have when you play a match takes away from what you have.”

ISU assistant coach Rod Puebla said one of the biggest things the team needs to focus on is consistency and having every player ready to compete.

“We’re one match away, we win one match and extend the match to three sets and you know it could have been a 5-2 or 4-3,” Puebla said. “We have to find that day that everybody’s going to be playing the same way.”

The team is playing better as individuals, but Puebla said it still needs to play more as a team in doubles.

“Sometimes we just have people playing up and down, so we don’t have the consistency,” Puebla said. “We are playing a lot better as a team, we are competing the best that we can in singles. Doubles we got a little better, but we still might make some changes by the end of the week.”

Depending on if Kansas State receives a ranking when the new rankings are released Tuesday, Iowa State may be facing its seventh ranked opponent in a row Friday. The Cyclones have played six ranked opponents in a row and will still play at least two more this season.

The meet against Kansas State is set to start at 2 p.m. Friday, while the meet against Kansas will begin at noon Sunday.