It was a busy yet successful weekend for the ISU women’s tennis team as it picked up its first conference win on Saturday and gained a non-conference win on Sunday.

The Cyclones battled conference rival Missouri Saturday at the Ames Racquet and Fitness Center.

Iowa State began the day with a slow start – getting swept in all three doubles matches – giving Missouri the doubles point. Because Missouri only gained one point with the doubles wins, the Cyclones still had an opportunity to gain up to six points in the singles matches.

Head coach Michele Conlon said she was disappointed they didn’t win a doubles match, but was glad the team was able to recover for its singles matches.

“We wish we could have pulled out some of the doubles matches, but the team did a nice job of setting aside that disappointment and focused right away on singles,” she said.

Iowa State quickly recovered and made a comeback, getting victories in four of the six singles matches.

Sabrina Evers lost to her opponent Katka Sevcikova 6-1, 6-2 last fall, but Saturday Evers was able to avenge the match with a 6-2, 6-3 win.

Edna Vazquez battled her opponent in three sets, winning 6-2, 3-6, 6-4.

“Edna had an outstanding win against a player who had gone to the quarterfinals in our regional tournament last fall,” Conlon said.

Junior Kristin Gyaki also picked up a win to give the Cyclones their third singles point.

“Kristin played a very aggressive and smart match to win 6-1, 6-3 in the No. 5 slot,” Conlon said.

The meet score was tied at 3-3 when junior Courtney Leese took the court in the No. 6 spot.

It all came down to Leese’s match, and Leese capitalized defeating Lucie Ruskova 6-2, 6-2 to clinch the 4-3 win for Iowa State.

Conlon said it was great to watch Leese play.

“It was gratifying to see not only that she won, but how she won,” she said. “Simply put, she was on a mission. She played tenaciously to win.”

Leese said that she didn’t mind the pressure, it helped her to narrow her focus.

“I knew I had to win my match for us to win the meet, but the pressure helped me to focus on the importance of each shot and point,” she said. “I’m really glad we were able to come back and win because we worked hard in practice all week.”

The win against Missouri gave the Cyclones their first Big 12 win of the season.

Sunday the Cyclones played the University of Illinois-Chicago in Des Moines.

Iowa State got off to a better start and gained the doubles point with victories by Noortje Cornelissen and Sabrina Evers at the No. 1 slot and Edna Vazquez and Courtney Leese in the No. 3 slot.

In singles, Cornelissen was leading 5-0 in the first set when her opponent had to default because of an injury.

Kristin Gyaki and Courtney Leese both won their matches for the Cyclones.

Tara Goedjen earned the team its fifth point by defeating Karen Liwanpo after being behind early.

“Tara played an absolutely outstanding match,” Conlon said. “After being down 3-0 in the first set, she came back to win under pressure 7-6, 6-3 to clinch the meet win for us.”

The 5-2 win moves Iowa State to 4-3 overall and 1-2 in the Big 12.

The Cyclones will try to get their second Big 12 Conference win Friday, March 8 when they host Colorado at 2 p.m. at the Ames Racquet and Fitness Center.