On a weekend meant to honor the three ISU tennis seniors, underclassmen stole the spotlight with exceptional individual performances.

The action began Friday afternoon with the Cyclones (5-9, 0-8) falling to Oklahoma 6-1.

The Sooners (7-10, 4-4) set the tone early with a stifling performance in doubles, narrowly sweeping the three matches to earn the point. Freshman Alyssa Palen scored the only point for the Cyclones, notching her third Big 12 singles victory in a row. Palen, who only a week ago had no wins in conference play, has become a force for Iowa State, coming on strong at the end of the season.

“Getting used to the Big 12 is really a big thing,” Palen said. “Everyone in the Big 12 is just amazing. I think it’s my confidence that really helps me; when I keep my confidence level up, I play to win.”

Saturday’s dual versus No. 64 Oklahoma State (13-5, 5-2) was Senior Day, highlighting the accomplishments of the three seniors, Jill Palen, Danielle Uscinski and Eve Soriano. The team was visibly more energetic coming out in doubles play but was only able to score one win, relinquishing the doubles point to the Cowgirls.

Alyssa Palen continued her tear through the Big 12 with partner junior Chrissy Derouin, winning 8-6 in a fiercely competitive match that lent momentum to the Cyclones going into singles.

After quick matches in the first and second positions found the score at 2-1 in favor of Oklahoma State, the remaining matches had observers in suspense as it nearly came down to the last match before the winner was decided.

Hard-fought matches by Uscinski, Loprinzi and Alyssa Palen had the Cyclones on the verge of an upset of a nationally ranked opponent. Uscinski and Palen each won their first sets only to lose the next two in a heartbreaking fashion.

“The team played with a lot of heart,” coach Michele Conlon said.

“I think the team came out really hard – this is a team [OSU] that absolutely destroyed us last year and we were in the middle of this match looking up and down going, we could win this thing.”

The Cyclones played four matches in seven days, with the last three all coming within a 72-hour span but insisted fatigue was not a factor in the late match losses.

Conlon felt the way her players conducted themselves Saturday in the face of three consecutive home losses was admirable.

“Here we were coming off three lost home matches,” Conlon said.

“All of which were, at one point, winnable. Then we have to turn around and on the last day, play the toughest of the four [teams] and play them as well or better than any of the teams we’ve played all week.

As a coach, you look around and just can’t ask for anything more.”

Iowa State next hits the court in Columbia, Mo., where they will take on the host Missouri Tigers. Matches are set to begin at 1 p.m. Saturday.