The ISU tennis team caught their first glimpse of outdoor tennis since October with a pair of matches in Jacksonville, Fla., this weekend. Housing their practices in the Ames Racquet and Fitness Center for the past four months, the team was welcomed by 70-degree temperatures when they arrived on Thursday.

“The weather was definitely a relief for the girls,” coach Armando Espinosa said. “It wasn’t extremely warm, but it was warmer than [in Ames].”

After two practices on Thursday, the Cyclones prepared to take on University of Texas-El Paso, who would be playing in their first dual match of the season.

The Cyclones made quick work of the Miners as they were victorious in all but one match, picking up their first victory of the season, 6–1.

“We felt pretty good coming out, playing outdoors certainly didn’t phase us and it was great,” Espinosa said.

In doubles, junior Erin Karonis and freshman Jenna Langhorst earned their second victories of the season with an 8–5 win over Carolina DeLuca and Martina Trierweiler. The sophomore pairing of Maria Fernanda Macedo and Tessa Lang won 8–3 and the regionally-ranked duo of junior Liza Wischer and senior Alyssa Palen won their first match of the season, 8–3, after not playing in the Cyclones season-opening loss at Minnesota.

Iowa State did not lose a set in each of their five singles victories as Karonis, Macedo, Lang, Langhorst and Wischer earned five of the six singles points for the match.

The team was hoping to enjoy a day off on Saturday with a day in the sun, but the weather did not cooperate. Windy and rainy conditions on Saturday caused the team to stay in the hotel for the entire day when they had planned on practicing. Instead, the team got their practice in on Sunday, only 30 minutes before the start of their match with North Florida.

With an hour postponement and continually balmy conditions playing a factor in the match, the Cyclones were shut out by the Ospreys 7–0. Espinosa believes the appearance of the score is a bit deceiving and that his team couldn’t catch many breaks on Sunday.

“If you look at the scores it could have been 4–3, 3–4 or even 7–0 [in favor of ISU],” Espinosa said. “[The score] doesn’t really reflect what went on on the court.”

The doubles pair of Wischer and Palen defeated North Florida’s Melanie Aguirre and Victoria Krook 8–6 for the Cyclones lone victory. Unfortunately, a 9–8 (7–4) tiebreaker loss by Karonis and Langhorst left the team out of contention for the doubles point and set the tone for the rest of the match.

“I felt like the momentum of the match could have changed if we would have won the doubles,” Espinosa said.

Despite the loss, Espinosa believes the trip was quite valuable for the team as they were not only able to play outdoors, but were able to see a pair of teams that spend their practice time outside.

“We’re an indoor team and now we know the advantage for the [Big 12 teams] in Texas,” Espinosa said.

Next up for the Cyclones (1–2) will be a trip south down I-35 to Des Moines to take on the Drake Bulldogs (0–2) at 5 p.m. on Friday.