Only a week after sweeping Gustavus Adolphus, the ISU women’s tennis team (1-3, 0-2 Big 12) found itself on the losing end of two sweeps in Texas.

The Cyclones opened play on Friday evening with a match at defending Big 12 champion Texas A&M. The No. 17 Aggies (7-5, 2-0) won all three doubles and six singles matches to win the contest 7-0. Saturday morning, the Cyclones fell to No. 13 Texas (5-1, 2-0), again dropping every match.

“The Big 12 is one of the hardest conferences in the United States,” senior Sabrina Evers said. “Many of the teams are ranked nationally.”

Evers, who plays No. 1 singles for Iowa State, lost to Texas A&M’s Jessica Roland, who is No. 15 in the nation, 6-2, 6-4. The next day, she faced No. 18 Petra Dizdar of Texas, falling 6-4, 6-1.

“It’s always good to play against people who are a little bit better than you,” said ISU freshman Danielle Uscinski. “It’s a good growth experience because you can see what you need to work on individually.”

Uscinski fell to Texas A&M’s Anna Lubinsky 6-0, 6-0 and battled Texas’ Ristine Olsen before losing 6-2, 6-1.

The matches marked the beginning of conference play for the Cyclones.

“The Big 12 is a lot more competitive,” Uscinski said. “There are a lot of tough teams we’re playing against, and it’s interesting to see how these teams are in relation to us and to see what it would take to get to that level.”

The Cyclones played on outside courts for the first time this season against Texas A&M.

“It was our first meet outside in the wind and weather,” Evers said. “It takes a little while to get used to playing under the lights.”

ISU freshman Jill Palen, playing in the No. 3 singles spot, lost her first Big 12 match to Texas A&M senior Roberta Spencer 6-4, 6-2.

The doubles pairing of Evers and sophomore Eve Soriano fought hard against Texas A&M’s Roberta Spencer and Lauren Walker, but fell 8-4. Evers and Soriano lost 8-3 to Texas’ Katie Ruckert and Kendra Strohm.

The Cyclones had a short turnaround time between matches, playing Texas A&M at 6 p.m. Friday before traveling to Austin to face Texas Saturday morning.

“It was kind of tough, because our first match was so late, and we had to travel right after it,” Uscinski said. “Traveling wears you out. It’s always going to affect you. We had to try to get enough rest and still get ready to play the next morning.”

Iowa State returns to the courts at 4 p.m. Friday to host Northern Iowa at the Ames Racquet & Fitness Center.