The ISU women’s tennis team was defeated by Oklahoma in the first round of the Big 12 women’s tennis tournament by a score of 4-2.

Due to weather conditions, the match was played indoors at the Kansas City Racquet Club in Merriam, Kan., on Thursday.

“I think we went into the tournament expecting to win the first round,” head coach Michele Conlon said. “Although we didn’t achieve that, we played pretty well and had a much tighter match than we did against Oklahoma at the beginning of April.”

Iowa State lost the first two doubles matches with the No. 1 pairing of Kristin Gyaki and Sabrina Evers and the No. 3 pairing of Evangelina Soriano and Courtney Leese. Play was stopped on the third match because the team doubles point had already been clinched by the Sooners.

“We had just played Oklahoma, and they beat us but we didn’t have a full lineup,” Elizabeth Chermel said. “Going into the match we felt confident with our doubles lineup. We felt like we could compete with them.”

“Tara and Beth played great doubles,” Conlon said. “Tara was very aggressive and played with a lot of energy.”

In the singles arena, Oklahoma scored two more team points with wins in the No. 1 and No. 2 spots. Consecutive wins by Soriano and Tara Goedjen brought the score back to 3-2, but another loss from Iowa State’s Courtney Leese in the No. 5 singles spot gave the Sooners the edge and ended match play.

“There was a point in the meet where I really thought that we could win it,” Conlon said. “I thought Tara played an outstanding match, and Eve avenged an earlier loss in the season. She lost in a dual match and then turned around and beat [her opponent] at the tournament.”

Chermel was set to play the final singles match but the games were cut short when the final verdict had been determined.

“I lost the first set 7-5 and only played two points of the second set,” Chermel said. “It was very close and there’s no way to know how it would have turned out.”

“Beth had a very tight first set and then she did not get to complete her match,” Conlon said.

They Cyclone women ended their season 0-12 in the Big 12.

“The scores were much closer than they were in the last match,” Chermel said. “We lost, but a lot of positive things came out of that match.”

“I thought the team should be proud of how they performed at the championships,” Conlon said. “They should use any disappointment they felt from losing as fuel for working hard this summer.”

The Sooners moved on to the quarterfinals held on Friday. They were defeated by Bedlam series rival Oklahoma State 4-2. Also in quarterfinal play, Colorado upset co-Big 12 women’s champion Baylor 4-2, Texas topped Kansas State 4-1 and Texas A&M shut out Missouri 4-0.

Texas A&M and Oklahoma State advanced to the finals where Oklahoma State came out on top with a score of 4-1.

Conlon said the Cyclones would be done with team practice until August but that the athletes would work on conditioning this summer.

“The team members need to take a short break to physically rest their bodies and concentrate on finals,” Conlon said. “As soon as they are ready to go physically, each will be working on their games. It will be important for them to come back in great shape.”

Conlon said there have been far more good things about coaching this year’s squad than any challenges they have had.

“I think that having the opportunity to work with good people day in and day out has been a joy,” she said.