The ISU women’s tennis team traveled to Colorado last weekend hoping to pick up a pair of victories in two days of competition, but the trip didn’t go quite as planned.

The Cyclones dropped both contests when they were defeated by No. 45 Colorado University, 7-0, and No. 61 University of Denver, 6-1.

With the two losses, the Cyclones drop to 1-7 overall and 0-4 in Big 12 Conference play.

Against Colorado, junior Courtney Leese and freshman Evangelina Soriano were defeated in doubles competition for the first time this season, losing in the No. 3 slot to Colorado’s Sarah Burrows and Jessica Vanderdys, 8-5.

In the No. 3 slot in doubles, Colorado’s Morgan Sall and Kendra Strandemo defeated ISU seniors Tara Goedjen and Kristin Gyaki 8-6.

Head coach Michele Conlon said the team’s doubles play is improving and gaining experience against nationally ranked teams.

“We’re playing pretty good doubles right now and we’re playing pretty good singles,” Conlon said.

“Our schedule is tough. Every team that we’ve played is against nationally ranked opponents.”

Gyaki, Iowa State’s top singles player, was defeated by Colorado’s Dominique Lemperle 6-3, 6-0. Soriano lost her singles match to Vanderdys 6-1, 7-5.

“Evangelina is playing well. She has a lot of tools and she is a smart player,” Conlon said of the freshman.

“She’s a very dedicated player. I’m very excited to watch her this semester and the following three years.”

Against Denver, Soriano collected the only singles win for the Cyclones, as she defeated the Pioneers’ Stephanie Ginsburg 6-4, 5-7 with a 10-6 tiebreaker. In an exciting match of the No. 2 singles, Denver’s Suzana Maksovic defeated Cyclone junior Sabrina Evers. Evers 6-2, 2-6, 7-6 (2).

Conlon has seen her athletes adapt to their competition’s style, which is a sign of improvement.

“When we played Colorado, we played inside. Against Denver, we played outside,” Conlon said. “Our team did very well playing outside. They were ready for it. The altitude was a challenge.”

Iowa State will resume play on March 17 at Jacksonville University.

Conlon said the players will use the break to rest their bodies, and tune up for the rest of the season, which will hopefully lead to more victories in the near future.

“We’re going to work on establishing a groove on hitting. We’re going to have two hard days of practice outside on Saturday and Sunday,” Conlon said. “Our spring break schedule is going to consist of getting out in the sun and wind and getting a feel of all the elements. We’re going to work on our feet and getting a good eye on the ball. With our mini-season right now and spring break, we’re going to play well.”

While out of town for the tournament, Conlon missed the public memorial service of the late Pete Taylor on Sunday, but did attend his funeral on Monday.

“Many people are going to miss Pete,” Conlon said. “Inside of the athletic department, he worked great with everyone. He will be missed dearly.”