The ISU tennis team will travel to the state of Colorado this weekend to take on two Colorado universities. The Cyclones start the competition Friday in Greeley, home of the University of Northern Colorado Bears, before finishing up Saturday with a dual against 47th-ranked University of Colorado at Boulder.

Iowa State (3-2, 0-2) is coming off of a 7-0 loss to then-No. 29 Texas A&M and hopes to gain its first Big 12 win in over four years.

The Buffaloes (4-2, 1-0) are the third-ranked opponent the Cyclones have faced so far this season, all of which have been from the tough Big 12 Conference.

The high altitude of the Rocky Mountains is notorious for affecting sporting events played on its slopes, and tennis is no different. A key component in determining how well the Cyclones will fare this weekend is going to be how well the players can adjust to the adverse playing conditions.

“Getting down there and getting acclimated to the playing conditions is always somewhat difficult going to Colorado,” junior Caitlin Loprinzi said. “Because of the altitude, the ball tends to fly a lot more on you and you need to change your game plan a little bit. We need to have a good, solid practice on Thursday and really be focused on Friday and Saturday, and I think it is definitely possible for us to go 2-0.”

Northern Colorado (2-5) plays in a smaller conference against opponents that are a bit off of Iowa State’s radar, but the Bears themselves are no stranger to the visiting Cyclones. Iowa State hosted Northern Colorado early in the 2005 spring season and was able to tally a 5-2 win in a hard -ought dual.

“We need to be ready for Northern Colorado on Friday, to be very scrappy,” coach Michele Conlon said. “When we’ve played against them before, we’ve won some matches and lost some matches.

“It’s a little hard for me to know about how they are playing. We’re not as familiar with their opponents as we are for example, Colorado [University], who will be a very good, nationally ranked team.”