The ISU women’s tennis team will take to the shores of Lake Michigan this weekend as they prepare to face some stiff competition in this year’s Wildcat Invitational.

The tournament, hosted by the Big 10 Conference’s Northwestern University, will be the first real test for the Cyclones as they prepare for their regional tournament in Tulsa, Okla. on Oct. 20.

The Cyclone women will square off on the courts against teams from Wisconsin, Western Michigan, Louisville, DePaul, Illinois-Chicago and Northwestern.

Northwestern, ranked fifth in the nation, is going to be one of the tougher teams coach Michele Conlon’s team will face this year.

“It’s going to be great preparation for the Big 12 season,” Conlon said.

“This is what you live for, this is what you work for.”

Since the Cyclones’ last tournament in the Twin Cities in mid-September, the women have been working hard on the court to prepare for the rest of the fall season.

The team has done an outstanding job of staying focused and working on its conditioning, Conlon said.

Besides being on the court every day, Conlon’s Cyclones have been using conditioning alternatives such as yoga and pilates to ready themselves for teams of this weekend’s caliber.

With the absence of one of the team’s two juniors, Eve Soriano, from this weekend’s competition, Conlon will again have to look to her younger players for support. Freshman Chrissy Derouin will be one of those players, after winning three of four in her singles matches at the Gopher Invitational.

Another young player to watch is Iowa State’s Danielle Uscinski, a sophomore from Scottsdale, Ariz. Uscinski will not be participating in any of the tournament’s two doubles flights, but she will compete in one of the three singles flights.

Uscinski, who is still recovering from an injury to her foot, was forced to pull herself from her match at the Gopher Invitational, but feels well enough to play this weekend.

“It should be a little tougher than the Gopher Invitational,” Uscinski said. “Every match is going to be hard.”

With a weekend full of stiff competition in store for the Cyclones, there is one situation that might turn out to be in the Cyclones’ favor.

Northwestern is the home of the nation’s No. 1 tennis player, Cristelle Grier, but the chances of her showing up at the Wildcat Invitational are slim.

According to the Wildcat’s Web site, Grier is competing this weekend at the ITA All-American Championships in Los Angeles, California.