Iowa State returns home Thursday to take on the No. 35 BYU Cougars in Urbandale, Iowa, for the Cyclones’ first home conference match of the season.
The Cyclones most recently dropped their match against the No. 57 Kansas Jayhawks by a score of 5-2, extending their losing streak to eight. Iowa State has an overall record of 2-8 and is searching for its first conference win, sitting at 0-3.
BYU is the first of the new Big 12 opponents that Iowa State will face off against, and it will be the second time the Cyclones have matched up against the Cougars. The first time was in Las Vegas, when the Cougars took down the Cyclones 5-2 during a season in which Iowa State went 8-15 overall.
BYU is sitting at 11-2 and won seven-straight before losing to No. 1 Oklahoma State 5-2. With only one conference loss, BYU is third in the Big 12, trailing only Oklahoma State and Texas. The Cougars’ strong record includes two ranked wins against UCF and Kansas State.
The match against BYU will be the fifth-straight match against a ranked opponent for the Cyclones, and it will be the third highest-ranked opponent they have faced to date, a mark that will be broken two days later when Iowa State takes on No. 27 Texas Tech.
Anna Supapitch Kuearum will have yet another ranked test against No. 74 Bobo Huang, who is 10-1 in singles, all coming from the first singles spot. Huang most recently lost to No. 7 Anastasiya Komar from Oklahoma State, someone Kuearum almost upset less than two weeks prior. With two ranked wins and being 6-4 overall, a win Thursday would boost Kuearum’s resume more.
Ashlee Narker will also be looking for a second-straight win and a .500 singles record after defeating a Jayhawk opponent Saturday. Narker is currently 3-4 overall and 1-2 in conference play, and hopes to ride the success against Kansas into the match against BYU. Iowa State will look to pull off the upset at noon Thursday as the No. 35 Cougars travel to Urbandale, Iowa. Live stats can be found here.
