Nearly a month after its first tournament, the ISU women’s tennis team is back in action Friday at the Wildcat Invitational in Evanston, Ill.

Head coach Michele Conlon said she is confident her team will perform well.

“The players are improving individual parts of their games,” Conlon said. “The team has been extremely focused.

“They’ve been arriving early to practices, very ready to go. Hopefully the focus can carry over to match play.”

ISU players said they feel overdue for some competition.

“We’ve been working hard in practice the past couple of weeks to get ready,” freshman Jill Palen said. “We took the time to figure out what we need to work on, and now we’re excited to see if all the hard work paid off.”

Sophomore Evangelina Soriano is also looking forward to the tournament.

“We have a very positive atmosphere,” Soriano said. “We want to play every match hard because every point counts.”

The Cyclones only have four meets, all tournaments, during the fall season. Big 12 Conference play doesn’t begin until February.

The fall season is important because of the opportunities it affords for player development, Palen said.

“The fall tournaments give us a chance to experiment with doubles combinations and bond as a team,” Palen said. “It lets you know what you can work on for the actual season.”

Conlon said tournaments are vital for new players to ground themselves and for returning players to improve.

“The NCAA only allows us 25 dates per year, and the tournaments are only counted as one date instead of three,” she said. “It gives the team experience in match play.”

Traveling to the Chicago area means that tennis won’t be the only thing on the team’s mind.

“Whenever we travel, we try to let the student-athletes do some sightseeing,” Conlon said. “Part of their learning experience is to see different parts of the country.”

Other teams participating in the Wildcat Invitational include Northwestern, Western Michigan, Illinois-Chicago, DePaul and Wisconsin.

This weekend’s tournament is the first of three scheduled over the next two weeks for the Cyclones. The Drake Tournament in Des Moines takes place Oct. 17-20, followed by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association’s Central Championships regional tournament Oct. 22-26 in Salt Lake City, Utah.