Iowa State’s tennis team is heading to Colorado for the weekend to compete in the 2010 Air Force Invitational, the first tournament of the season in which the entire team is traveling to and competing in.

The Cyclones are taking eight players. Among them are seniors Erin Karonis and Liza Wischer as well as juniors Maria Macedo, Tessa Lang and Marie Chartier.

The invite runs Friday through Sunday and features 12 teams.

This tournament will be crucial for many young players on the team. The Cyclones have three freshmen this year, and the tournament will be the first competitive play of the 2010 season for six of the eight Cyclones set to play.

The two ISU players who have already competed this year are sophomore Simona Cacciuttolo, who played well at the Drake tournament Sept. 10, and Emma Waites, who competed in the UNI Invitational last weekend.

It should be a good place for them to start off. The Air Force invitational guarantees that all players will play a minimum of three singles games and three doubles games.

The team has been practicing hard all week in preparation, and coach Armando Espinosa is excited to see how they fare.

“It is the first time we will have more than four girls competing,” Espinosa said. “I hope we play well and also mostly just get used to the competition. Our number one priority will be to just keep improving, every week.”

Many impressive matchups are likely in order this weekend as some of the big name players face off.

The Cyclones will get a look at some of their conference rivals at the invite. Big 12 teams Oklahoma State and Colorado will both be representing the conference. Also in attendance will be Air Force, Arizona, Eastern Michigan, New Mexico, North Carolina-Greensboro, Northern Colorado, Oregon and Wyoming.

It’s not just the other teams and players that will act as the opposition this weekend.

Players will also have to battle Colorado’s high altitude, where the air is much thinner.

“It’s always difficult in the thinner air. We leave Thursday morning so they’ll have a little time to get used to it. It will be a good preview for when we play Colorado in the spring,” Espinosa said.