After an extended break from action, the ISU women’s tennis team is ready to take to the courts again Friday and Saturday at the Iowa Invitational in Iowa City. Iowa State will be competing against Iowa and Northern Illinois.

Because this weekend is the team’s first time back in competition since the fall, the Iowa Invitational is a meet that players use more to get back in the flow than as a normal competition.

“These are just mock duals, so it’s a very low-key, informal tournament,” head coach Michele Conlon said. “This meet doesn’t determine winners and losers.”

It has been almost three months since the players have competed, and the anxiety to get back out on the tennis courts shows in both the players and their coach.

“It’s been a long break and it’ll feel good getting back into competition,” said sophomore Elizabeth Chermel.

“I’m really looking forward to getting back on the road with the team.”

Conlon agreed with Chermel.

“I’m very excited to see them go out and compete,” she said. “I’m very pleased to see how focused the team seems to be.”

This past offseason, the team members spent a majority of their time in the weight room working on their strength and conditioning. Players said they’ve also tried to develop more camaraderie

“We’ve all been working on getting in better shape,” said sophomore Evangelina Soriano. “We’re also more team-oriented, which gives us a real competitive spirit. It’s not just one person on this team, it’s all of us.”

Chermel agreed. “We’ve all had a good week of practice,” she said. “We worked on our individual aspects of our game and everyone is pretty even.”

Though the team is adequately young— made up of two freshman, three sophomores and one senior— Conlon said she doesn’t think that will be a disadvantage.

“Competition is not always new,” she said. “I feel our freshman have adjusted well and I think we will get good leadership.”