The Iowa State Cyclones (2-14) lost their 12th straight match Sunday, falling 0-4 against No. 16 Arizona State (15-4) after losing 2-4 on Friday against No. 39 Arizona (15-8).
With West Virginia’s victory over the Cincinnati Bearcats on Saturday, the Cyclones officially fell to last in the Big 12 standings as the only team without a conference victory.
The weekend started well for the Cyclones, with Iowa State winning the doubles point for the second time in a row after earning the point against Houston on March 22.
Junior Ashlee Narker and sophomore Mari Paz Alberto Vilar picked up a 6-3 win on the top doubles court to open up the matchup against the Wildcats. After a 5-7 loss on the No. 2 court, the freshman duo of Alicia Dale and Gabriella Kellner won the tiebreaker set for a 7-6 win and the doubles point.
The upset bid ended quickly once the singles matches started, however.
Narker couldn’t continue her winning ways as a singles player, dropping her match on the No. 2 court 6-1, 6-2. Cyclone junior Valeska San Martin Ramirez fell 6-2, 6-2 on the No. 6 court and Arizona took a quick 2-1 match lead.
Sophomore Julia Camblor avenged her doubles loss with a 6-3, 6-3 victory over Arizona’s Tanvi Narendran to even the match at 2-2, but that ended up as the Cyclones’ only singles win.
Dale’s singles struggles continued after her strong start to the season. After winning the first set of her matchup 6-2, a 6-0 sweep and a 6-4 loss in the third set ultimately stifled Iowa State’s attempt to take a late lead against the Wildcats.
The final point of the match occurred on the top court, where Alberto Vilar couldn’t stage a comeback to tie the meeting at three points apiece. After losing the first set 6-0, Alberto Vilar won 6-4 to take the match to a third set, but a 7-5 loss gave Arizona the overall victory.
ISU junior Stanislava Shulzhenko led 6-5 in the third set before being declared the winner.
Iowa State was far more competitive against the Wildcats than it was in its 4-0 loss against the Sun Devils on Sunday.
No. 16 Arizona State swiftly defeated the Cyclones to earn the doubles point, winning 6-1 on the top court and 6-2 on the No. 2 court. The Cyclones trailed 5-3 on the third court before it was resolved as unfinished.
Arizona State extended its lead with the Sun Devils’ Zlata Bartanusz winning 6-1, 6-1 on the No. 5 court to open the singles matches. ASU star Emilija Tverijonaite, the 22nd-ranked singles competitor in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association’s individual rankings, won 6-1, 6-3 on the No. 1 court to put the Sun Devils a point away from a meeting sweep.
A 6-4, 6-2 win by Aiya Nupbay of Arizona State on the No. 4 court sealed the sweep for the road team. Narker was the only Cyclone to win a set, with a 6-3 victory in the first set on the No. 2 court. She was tied 3-3 before the match was declared unfinished.
The Cyclones’ best opportunity to pick up a conference win is when they take on Cincinnati (6-10, 1-8 in Big 12 play) and West Virginia (7-9, 1-8 in Big 12 play) when they come to town. Iowa State will take on the Bearcats at 4 p.m. Friday before preparing for the Mountaineers at noon Sunday.
With improved doubles play and a duo of struggling opponents coming to Ames, the Cyclones have their best opportunity to put an end to their losing streak in a week’s time.
