Iowa State ends its two-match road trip in Morgantown, West Virginia, against the Mountaineers on Sunday.
The Cyclones ended their historic losing streak of 14 matches Friday after defeating Cincinnati 4-3. The win marked the Cyclones’ first win since Jan. 20, when they beat Missouri State 4-1.
The win Friday helped the Cyclones improve to 3-14 and gave them their first Big 12 win of the season, moving them out of last place in the conference.
The Mountaineers have lost four straight matches, all to ranked opponents. West Virginia is 13-9 overall but has not played to the level of Big 12 teams, giving them a 2-8 conference record.
Contrary to most of the Cyclones’ Big 12 opponents, Iowa State has been in control of the matchup historically, winning 11 of 12 matches against each other. Iowa State has won the last five against the Mountaineers, and the last two have been 4-0 sweeps.
West Virginia relies heavily on singles spots three through six, as all of them have a combined record over .500, while the first singles spot has a .273 win percentage, and the second spot has .429.
In doubles, the Mountaineers’ Michaela Kucharova and Momoko Nagato have a 10-6 record from the first spot, leading the way for West Virginia.
Gala Arangio has picked up steam lately, winning back-to-back matches to get to three wins after starting the season 0-8. Arangio won 6-2, 7-6 (7-5) against Cincinnati and 6-3, 6-0 against Texas.
Throughout February and March, the Mountaineers bounced around the rankings, reaching as high as No. 47 and dropping down to No. 71 before falling from the rankings after a loss to No. 62 UCF.
Despite losing the doubles point to Cincinnati on Friday, the Cyclones tried out another combination of pairings. Isabella Dunlap and Ashlee Narker dominated from the second doubles spot in a match that was their first time playing in that position together.
Anna Supapitch Kuearum and Juliette Nask played together for the first time in the first doubles spot and Arangio and Valeska San Martin Ramirez played in the third spot for their first time in that placement together. Both pairings lost 6-4 but showed promise and signs of future success by staying in each match until the end.
Iowa State takes on West Virginia at 10 a.m. Sunday in Morgantown, West Virginia, for the Cyclones’ last away regular season match of the season.
