The ISU tennis team battled hard against a tough Oklahoma State team on Saturday at the Ames Racquet and Fitness Center, but the Cyclones lost the match 7-0, while playing through injuries and illness.

Head coach Michele Conlon said the team played extremely hard and fought for every point.

“The Oklahoma State coach paid a nice tribute by saying he was amazed by how hard our players played and the way we fought back into every game,” Conlon said.

The Cowboys, ranked No. 36 in the nation, won three close doubles matches and all six singles matches.

Senior Tara Goedjen and freshman Beth Chemel persevered in their 6-8 doubles match loss. After being down 4-0, the two won six straight games, climbing their way back into the lead, but the Cowboys proved to be too much.

“We played well when we played aggressively,” Goedjen said. “We needed to be more consistent from the baseline and take them from the net.”

Conlon said Goedjen is one of the hardest workers to have been through the ISU program.

Goedjen also played a tough singles match, losing 6-3 and 7-6.

“Every point I play is like playing my last,” Goedjen said. “Hopefully, things can go my way but sometimes it doesn’t go that way.”

Senior Kristin Gyaki said her singles match was challenging, especially having to play through illness.

“I don’t think I have ever worked so hard and lost,” said Gyaki, who fell 6-1, 6-3. “It was a struggle to get the points and recover from the points.”

The Cyclones had to play without their top player, junior Sabrina Evers, who was out of the lineup due to an injury and illness.

Evers said she was not able to play due to a number of things, including a pulled muscle in her leg from last week and an illness this week.

Assistant coach Dan Martens said there are a lot of freshmen on the team and the seniors are doing a good job of teaching the freshmen about the long season.

“It’s hard for the freshman to come straight into the Big 12 schedule after playing four years of high school,” Martens said. “The seniors have been doing an excellent job of teaching the freshmen to battle against other teams and injury.”

Conlon said considering the circumstances, she was proud of the effort.

“The team has been doing a superior job of stepping up to the illness and injury factors,” Conlon said.

Not only is the team fighting against injury and illness, the Big 12 Conference offers one of the most difficult tennis schedules. The Big 12 is the cream of the crop of women’s tennis, Conlon said.

“All 11 of our opponents are nationally ranked,” Conlon said. “That means that they are all in the top 70 in the country, out of 300 Division I teams.”

Conlon said she has been enormously pleased with the amount of work her players have given on and off the court.

“They have done an outstanding job as student-athletes,” she said. “Any coach would want these types of players in their program.”

The tennis team will face the University of Northern Iowa, who they have not played in several years, next Wednesday at 3 p.m. on Forker Courts across from the Lied Recreation Center, weather permitting.

“It’s nice to start up the series again with UNI,” Conlon said. “Playing an in-state team is good for college tennis.”