ISU women’s tennis coach Michelle Conlon challenged her team prior to its meet with Creighton last Friday at the Ames Fitness and Racquet Club, and the Cyclones responded with a 9-0 sweep of the Bluejays.

The non-conference victory improves the Cyclones to 4-8 on the season while the Bluejays fall to 4-9.

“Before the Creighton match, we only had eight dual meets left for the regular season. I told the team that we had a fork in the road as to how they will respond to those meets and I felt they took the right direction. They played aggressive and with confidence from the start,” Conlon said.

The Cyclones dominated the singles action, winning all matches in straight sets. The only close sets came in tiebreaker wins from Edna Vazquez and Kristin Gyaki.

Vazquez defeated Melissa Rosenthal 7-6, 6-2 at No. 2 singles and Gyaki topped Jeanna Raynor 6-2, 7-6 at No. 4 singles.

Noortje Cornelissen drew a solid opponent in Bluejay freshman Divya Bala but came away with a 6-4, 6-2 win in the No. 1 singles match.

“Noortje had a tough opponent and stayed focused at the important points to close out the match. She overcame her opponents lower paced match style which can be difficult to do,” said Conlon.

At the No. 3 singles spot, senior Kendra Leese pounded out a 6-0, 6-1 win and earned the praise of her coach.

“I was proud of how Kendra Leese played. She kept the ball deep and worked hard on every point,” Conlon said. “Kendra is a terrific athlete and has excellent leadership skills, and I think she will finish her career on a high note.”

The last two singles matches were easy wins for freshmen Tara Goedjen and Courtney Leese. Both won by 6-0, 6-0 scores.

“Courtney and Tara did a terrific job of not giving up a game in their singles matches,” said Conlon.

The Cyclones cruised to three victories in the doubles matches. The victorious doubles teams were Cornelissen and Karin Westberg, Kendra Leese and Gyaki and Courtney Leese and Vazquez.

Vazquez and Leese defeated Raynor and Woodward 8-3 in the No. 3 doubles match to move to 18-2 on the season.

The Cyclones are back in action this weekend with a pair of Big 12 conference dual meets. The Cyclones travel to Kansas State Saturday and then meet Kansas Monday in Kansas City.