The ISU women’s tennis team finished off conference play against No. 31 Nebraska on Saturday, falling 7-0.

“They are [No.] 31 in the country for a reason,” said coach Michele Conlon. “[Nebraska] was one of the strongest teams we’ve played all year.”

Iowa State was no match for the Cornhuskers, who were represented by a strong international team and nationally ranked players. The Cyclones finished the season’s conference matches without a Big 12 win and only one win overall, against Northern Colorado on March 4. They will have one more chance to pick up a win before the conference tournament, against Northern Iowa on Sunday.

Leading the pack for Nebraska was Gitte Ostermann in the No. 1 singles spot. Iowa State’s No. 1 netter, Jill Palen battled Ostermann, but to no avail.

“All of my games were really close,” Palen said. “I had game point in almost every single game.

“It was so frustrating because I just couldn’t close them out. I would always make the mistake on an important point in the game, like 30-all.”

Ostermann was able to hold Palen to one point in the first set and two in the second, defeating her 6-1, 6-2.

“I thought Jill played an outstanding match against a player who is 32 out of 1,800 Division 1 players in the nation,” Conlon said.

In more singles action, newcomer Beth Takemoto fought Nebraska’s Ellinor Zugner. Takemoto came out strong in both sets, taking the first point of each game, but Zugner went on to finish out the games, winning the match 6-1, 6-2.

“My play was very on and off,” Takemoto said. “It’s still just getting the experience I need to improve.

“I need to go back to the basics and keep the ball deep. When you’re at the college level, you have to keep every single ball past the service line.”

The team will hit the practice courts hard in the next week, where Takemoto said she plans to work on consistency, deep cross-court shots and being patient enough to set up the approach shot down the line.

With the season’s conference matches over, Takemoto will have one more chance to record her first collegiate singles victory before the Big 12 Championships.

“We have to really come out hard in the next couple weeks, finish strong and carry some momentum in to the fall,” Conlon said.