Throughout the 2008 season, the ISU tennis team hasn’t been able to catch many breaks. This weekend, the Cyclones find themselves scheduled to face a very familiar opponent in the first round of the Big 12 Championships.

On Sunday, the Cyclones closed out their regular season with a defeat at the hands of the Kansas Jayhawks. At 10 a.m. Thursday, the 12th-seeded Cyclones (4-14, 0-11 Big 12) will try to avenge that loss in their second shot at the No. 5-seeded Jayhawks at the George P. Mitchell Tennis Center in College Station, Texas.

Despite being swept, assistant coach Armando Espinosa feels Sunday’s contest cannot be deemed a complete failure for his team.

“Although we lost, it still provided us with an advantage for Thursday,” Espinosa said. “We now have an idea of what we’re looking at and what to expect out of Kansas.”

Along with the prior exposure, the Cyclones will have an additional benefit in the form of freshman Erin Karonis’ return to the lineup. The Cyclones’ top singles player was held out of the previous meet to rest a left hip flexor that had been preventing her from dishing out her best game.

“Erin could have played Sunday, but we decided it was not worth the risk. We gave her the meet off to rest and get back to 100 percent in time for the Big 12 tournament,” Espinosa said.

In the loss on Sunday, the Cyclones extended their string of conference losses to 66 in a row. For the streak to end this weekend, Espinosa says the team needs to concentrate on the factors they can control rather than what has happened in the past.

One aspect on the Cyclones’ side is that they will bring three freshmen into the meet who have not had to endure those past troubles.

“There is not one thing they or anyone else can do to improve what has happened in the past,” Espinosa said. “If [the team] continues to practice hard, focus on the tasks at hand and play with the same amount of energy that they are now, the situation will eventually get better and the wins will follow.”