Saturday morning’s tennis match against No. 54 Texas Tech presents sophomore Caitlin Loprinzi and junior Danielle Uscinski with opportunities to build on recent success.

Loprinzi has been victorious in her two returning matches so far this season after almost a year of recuperation and rehabilitation from a number of injuries – including surgery on both wrists.

“I love to be on the court,” Loprinzi said. “Every day my body feels better, just getting back into the games, just hitting balls. That’s how I get my timing back.”

She faced Colorado’s Gleisy Torres Torres and dominated in a 6-3, 6-1 victory. Then, in Hawaii, she defeated Wyoming’s Michelle Brown 7-6 (7-5), 6-3 in Hawaii.

Now that she’s back on the court, Loprinzi said she does not miss sitting on the sidelines, where she was often found coaching.

“I love every aspect of tennis,” Loprinzi said. “Coaching is great and I can always cheer on my teammates, but it’s always best to compete and contribute to the team that way.”

Uscinski has won four of her last five matches – including both of her matches in Hawaii – and scored the only Cyclone point against Washington State with a 6-2, 7-6 (7-1) victory over Aleksandra Cekic. She then breezed through her match with Wyoming’s Jamie Nelson, 6-0, 6-1. Uscinski will have a tough match against Texas Tech’s Janet Durham, who is 10-3 on the season in the No. 3 spot.

“[Uscinski] has been playing better than she was in January,” said coach Michele Conlon. “Sometimes people play better at certain spots, but she is playing aggressively and more mentally sound, which is to her credit. It’s evident on the court – as she’s positive, confident – and it has helped her close out matches.”

Senior Elizabeth Chermel is searching for her first victory of the season. She has lost a number of close matches lately – matches that could be going the other way.

“She’s been competing well at her spot,” Conlon said. “She’s gotten a lot of games in close matches. She needs to be extra tough in matches down the road, and more focused at the end of the match because there are no easy matches coming up.”

The tennis team split a pair of matches between Washington State and Wyoming, and their match against Hawaii was rained out while in Honolulu. Texas Tech defeated Wyoming 4-0, then went on to defeat Hawaii 6-1. Texas Tech and Iowa State did not face each other in Honolulu.

Texas Tech is 3-1 in the Big 12 and 10-4 overall, and Iowa State is 0-5 in the conference and 3-6 overall.

The match begins at 11 a.m. Saturday at the Ames Racquet & Fitness Center, 320 S. 17th St.