The Big 12 Tennis Championships begin Thursday in Waco, Texas. The ISU tennis team, which is the tournament’s No. 11 seed, starts its match at 10 a.m. against sixth-seeded Texas Tech in the first round.

In their last meeting April 8, the Cyclones (10-15, 1-10 Big 12) were defeated by the Lady Raiders (17-7, 7-4) by a score of 6-1. Junior Maria Macedo notched the Cyclones’ only victory in Lubbock as she defeated Samantha Adams 6-4 and 6-3 at the No. 2 singles spot.

The Cyclones also met the Lady Raiders at the Big 12 Championships in 2005 at Austin, Texas where they were defeated 4-0 in the first round.

The Cyclones have never made it through the first round of the Big 12 Championships. Since the first Big 12 Championships in 1997, the Cyclones are 0-14 in tournament play.

“We’ve never won our first round at Big 12s,” said senior Liza Wischer. “So that’s another one of our big goals that we have this year.”

At the Big 12 Championships last season, the Cyclones were defeated by Oklahoma State by a score of 4-1. Erin Karonis, then a junior, posted the Cyclones’ only singles victory of the day. Wischer was leading, but her match was cut short after the Cowgirls won their fourth point.

In their last outing, the Cyclones were swept 7-0 by Nebraska. Karonis and sophomore Simona Cacciuttolo notched the Cyclones’ only victory in their doubles match at the No. 2 spot.

The Lady Raiders lost both of their dual meets last weekend on the road. They lost at the hands of No. 7 Baylor on Thursday by a score of 6-1, and Friday they lost 5-2 to Texas A&M.

The Cyclones have been practicing in Waco since Tuesday.

The Big 12 Championships start on Thursday and go through Sunday with the Cyclones playing the first match of the tournament against Texas Tech starting a 10 a.m. at the Baylor Tennis Center in Waco, Texas.

The winner of the dual will go on to the second round to play against Oklahoma, who earned a first round bye.