Returning from competition in Florida with two losses and a win, the ISU women’s tennis team faces Kansas State today in the first of five remaining regular-season Big 12 meets in 2003.

“We had a great week in Florida,” senior Courtney Leese said. “We feel very prepared and we’re ready for the match on Friday.”

The team traveled through Florida during Spring Break and played matches against Jacksonville on March 17, Stetson on March 19 and Central Florida the following day.

Iowa State defeated Stetson 4-3 with singles wins by Kristin Gyaki, Evangelina Soriano and Charlotte Ljungkrantz and nailed down the final match point with two doubles wins. Tara Goedjen teamed up with Elizabeth Chermel for one victory and Leese and Soriano accounted for the other.

Jacksonville and Iowa State split singles matches, but the Cyclones lost three consecutive doubles matches to give Jacksonville the deciding point and allowed them to win 4-3. Singles victories went to Sabrina Evers, Goedjen and Soriano.

The meet against Central Florida ended in exactly the same way as the Cyclones were again defeated 4-3 with singles points from Evers, Soriano and Suzanne Rutten.

“It’s frustrating to lose,” Leese said. “But we’ve had a lot of tough matches and played them to the wire.”

The meet today against Kansas State will pit the Cyclones against a team that has defeated them in 11 straight matches. The meet will be held at the Ames Racquet and Fitness Center at 1 p.m.

“Generally, Kansas State is pretty tough,” Leese said.

Kansas State is coming off of a 4-3 victory over Southern Methodist on March 19 after a two-match losing streak. The Wildcats are ranked No. 6 in the Big 12 with a record of 2-2 in conference play and Iowa State is ranked No. 12 with a record of 0-6.

“It’s a tough conference” Leese said. “But hopefully we can win some of these matches towards the end of the season.”

Upcoming home meets for the Cyclones include Oklahoma on April 3 and Oklahoma State on April 5.