The Iowa State women’s tennis team hoped to take down No. 69-ranked Minnesota on Sunday, but fell one point short and lost a close 4-3 match.

No. 1 singles player junior Erin Karonis started her spring season off the right way as she notched an upset victory over the No. 111 nationally ranked Tijana Koprivica 7-6, (7-5), 6-2.

Karonis then paired up with freshman Jenna Langhorst to defeat Koprivica and Jackie Sperling in doubles play 8-6.

“Koprivica has a lot of variety to her game and Erin [Karonis] did a good job of not getting worked over,” said coach Armando Espinosa.

“She didn’t get out of her game style, she played positive and poised.”

However, Karonis and Langhorst’s victory would be the only victory for the team in doubles.

The pairs of sophomores Maria Fernanda Macedo and Tessa Lang and freshman Jasmine Lee and sophomore Marie-Christine Chartier both fell by scores of 8-3.

The Gophers picked up the single point for doubles play and Karonis’ victory over Koprivica knotted the score at one apiece.

Macedo, the No. 18 ranked player in the Central Region, lost in two sets 7-6 (7-4), 6-2 to Alessandra Ferrazzi in the No. 2 singles match.

Lang then lost her match with Alexa Palen, sister of Iowa State’s Alyssa Palen, 6-4, 6-3.

However, the Cyclones bounced back as Chartier defeated Sperling 6-3, 6-4 and Langhorst cruised past Magdalena Wiecha 6-2, 6-3.

The match came down to the No. 6 singles match between two freshman, Iowa State’s Lee and Minnesota’s Doron Muravnik.

Muravnik took the first set 6-4 but Lee came back with a 7-5 win in set number two before she took control in the third set, leading 5-4 and serving. However, Muravnik went on to win the next three games en route to a 7-5 victory.

Espinosa was pleased with his team’s performance and recognizes that inexperience may have played a part in Lee’s late loss.

“It came down to a bit of experience,” Espinosa said.

“It’s difficult to have the No. 69 team on your racket.”

The Cyclones (0-1) will take the next two weeks to gear up for their trip to Jacksonville when they will take on the University of Texas-El Paso on Jan. 29 and North Florida on Jan. 31.