The ISU tennis team wraps up their month on the road with matches against No. 33 Texas A&M Friday night and No. 3 Texas Saturday afternoon.

The Cyclones are 0-2 on the season, with losses to Baylor and Wisconsin by a combined score of 13-1.

Texas and Texas A&M are returning many of the same players that faced the Cyclones last season, both teams winning by a score of 7-0. The returning foes have not changed the way the tennis team has practiced, however.

“The last couple weeks we have been more focused on what we need to do with our games individually than we have on preparing for specific matchups,” said coach Michele Conlon. “Tennis isn’t exactly like basketball, where you know the other team’s offense so you can play defense – it is more about staying within your own game and making adjustments.”

Fueling a steeper learning curve for the Cyclones against Texas A&M and Texas is that both teams are coming off of losses – Texas lost 7-0 to No. 2 Florida last weekend, and Texas A&M lost to No. 21 Wake Forest and No. 11 North Carolina by identical scores of 5-2. The last time that the Cyclones faced a team reeling from consecutive defeats, the Cyclones lost 7-0. The Aggies are also 9-0 all-time against the Cyclones, with shutout wins by the score of 7-0 in three consecutive meetings.

“There’s no question that Texas and Texas A&M are unbelievably strong,” Conlon said. “They have some of the best players in the country, and other schools try to model their marquee facilities.”

Some of the competition the Cyclones will face include the No. 38 doubles team of Anna Lubinsky and Sarah Foster of Texas A&M, No. 51 Petra Dizdar of Texas, No. 54 Kendra Strohm of Texas, No. 67 Anna Lubinsky of Texas A&M and No. 95 Courtney Zauft of Texas.

Conlon said that although the scores are deceiving, the team is making improvements on the court.

“The team has been practicing well,” Conlon said. “And we’re hoping that Vince Young doesn’t play tennis, also.”

The challenge is getting those improvements to reflect in the scores, however. Facing teams completely dedicated to tennis with storied histories and strong traditions, and not as much focus on academics as here at Iowa State, makes the challenge so much more resounding.

The doubles team of Danielle Uscinski and Chrissy Derouin put their undefeated streak of two wins on the line this weekend. Also, Eve Soriano is the only Cyclone with a singles victory, coming two weeks ago against Wisconsin.

Matches start 6 p.m. Friday evening against Texas A&M in College Station, pending bad weather and a rescheduling of the matches. Then the team will travel to Austin to face the Longhorns 1 p.m. Saturday.