The Iowa State tennis team dropped consecutive Big 12 matches over the weekend, falling to Baylor 9-0 on Saturday in Waco and losing to Texas Tech 7-2 on Sunday in Lubbock.

On Saturday, the only Cyclone to win a set was Edna Vazquez in No. 3 singles, in her 6-7, 7-6, 6-1 loss to Hortensia Hernandez.

The match started off poorly for the Cylcones as Baylor’s Katja Kovac double bagged Noortje Cornelissen, 6-0, 6-0, in No. 1 singles.

Andrean Simons of ISU fell 6-2, 6-0 to Johnavi Parekh in No. 2 action, and Vazquez fell to Hernandez in the No. 3 slot.

ISU’s second-set struggles continued in the No. 4 singles slot as Kendra Leese lost to 6-3, 6-0 to Claudia Aguilar.

Mary Rumboa of ISU kept it close for a set as well before she too stumbled in the second, losing to Paola Stephen, 7-5, 6-0 in No. 5 singles action.

Baylor completed the singles matches the way they started, with a 6-0, 6-0 win in No. 6 singles as ISU’s Sharla Whitaker fell to Baylor’s Frida Borjesson.

The doubles matches were closer. Baylor won the No. 1 and No. 3 matches by identical scores of 8-5.

The Bear pair of Kovac and Parekh defeated Cornelissen and Westberg in No. 1 doubles, and Borjesson and Catherine Alain defeated the Cyclone duo of Rumboa and Simons in No. 3 doubles.

The closest match of the meet was at No. 2 doubles as ISU’s Leese and Vazquez came up just short against Aguilar and Stephen, 8-6.

Cyclone tennis coach Michele Conlon noted “Baylor is a top four team in the Big 12. We had some decent first sets but we struggled in the second. “

The Cyclones did pick up two victories against Texas Tech on Sunday.

Rumboa defeated Misty Meyer 6-1, 6-2 in No. 5 singles. Conlon was “particularly pleased with Mary Rumboa.”

Cornelissen and Westberg were victorious in No.1 doubles as they defeated Zana Zlebnik and Alenka Ovin 9-8. According to Conlon, the pair ” played a terrific doubles match — they were down 4-1 before coming back to win in a tiebreak.”

However, the Red Raiders had already wrapped up the meet by then, as they won the first 4 singles matches, as well as the No. 6 contest.

Cornelissen fell to Zlebnik 6-0, 6-4 in No. 1 singles, while Simons lost to Ovin 6-2, 6-3 in No. 2 singles.

Vazquez fell to Amanda Earhart 6-3, 6-2 at No. 3, and Leese lost to Ana Serrot 6-1, 6-2 at No. 4.

Rumboa’s win at No. 5 gave the Cyclones only temporary relief as the Raiders clinched the meet at No. 6 as Texas Tech’s Noel Ruiz beat Westberg, 6-2, 6-3.

The Cyclones won the closely fought No. 1 doubles match 9-8, but stumbled in the final two as Vazquez and Leese lost to Earhart and Serrot 8-2 at No. 2, and Meyer and Ruiz defeated Rumboa and Simons 8-3 at No. 3.

Conlon was pleased with some aspects of the meet: “I think that we definitely played some decent matches against Texas Tech … I told them before the match that I wanted better second sets than first sets no matter what, and I think we mostly got that.”

The losses pushed Iowa State’s record to 1-4 overall and 0-3 in Big 12 play. Iowa State takes the next two weeks off before hosting Minnesota at 3 p.m. on March 5 at the Ames Racquet and Fitness Club.

While they will still be looking for their first win against Division I competition, Conlon is optimistic: “You’re always disappointed when you lose. But it’s the beginning of the year and you need to take the good and run with it and improve on the rest. I do think we can get there [the upper division of the Big 12]. We need to keep improving each time out.”