By Paul Flies

Daily Staff Writer

When the ISU tennis team lost 4-0 to the Kansas Jayhawks in the Big 12 championships, it marked the end to their brutal 2008 season.

The year was one the Cyclones would love to forget, as they dealt with seemingly every bad situation that could possibly occur. Their head coach, Michelle Conlon, was gone for an extended amount of time to take care of a family member. One of their top players, Erin Karonis, dealt with a left hip flexor injury throughout the season. Even the schedule was unforgiving, as the Cyclones played six consecutive meets on the road.

The Cyclones closed out their season by losing 12 of their last 13 meets and were swept in their final nine. Unfortunately, that streak pales in comparison to the Cyclones string of non-conference losses. Since beating Kansas on March 1, 2003, Iowa State has lost its last 65 Big 12 meets.

Despite finishing the season with an overall record of 4-13 (0-10 Big 12), assistant coach Armando Espinosa still feels the team’s fortunes can be reversed. For that to be accomplished, however, the team must improve on one particular aspect of its game.

“Whichever team wins the doubles point coming out of the gate finds themselves in a much better situation. There is less pressure on a player [in singles play] to win when she knows that her team is up 1-0 compared to being down 0-1,” Espinosa said. “Our problem was that we did not put ourselves in a situation to win on a very consistent basis.”

Acknowledging the team’s weakness may be easy, but correcting the problem is extremely difficult. Espinosa says the reason for this is that in doubles play, the outcome is dictated more by a player’s mentality than one’s physical abilities. Since a person’s frame of mind is deeply embedded inside of them, it is much more resistant to change and takes time.

“As we continue to lay the foundation here, we will become more successful in the future. Eventually, Iowa State tennis will be able to establish a winning culture, Espinosa said. “When that happens, we will be to win the close meets that we are currently losing.”

The future may be closer than anyone thinks, as Iowa State will field a very young squad next season. As it stands right now, the 2008-09 roster will have only one senior, Kara Hickey; one junior, three sophomores and four incoming freshman.

Espinosa feels the freshman will be the key to next year’s success. The quartet of new faces will infuse the program with a new perspective and make sure none of the veterans become complacent. In addition, they’ll come to Ames with a their own incentive.

“They want to be known as the class who turned around the Iowa State tennis program,” Espinosa said. “They all had the opportunity to go play at a prestigious university but turned it down. There, they would just be another student-athlete, but here have the chance to become a difference-maker.”