After staying home for the past three weeks, the Cyclones will travel to Texas this week and face two teams. The Cyclones will travel to Austin, Texas, Friday.

The Cyclones will face No. 6 Texas Longhorns at 1 p.m. On Sunday, the Cyclones will travel to Waco, Texas, and will face No. 25 Baylor Bears.

The Cyclones have been on a two-match losing streak and are hoping to get back on the right track this weekend against the Longhorns and Bears.

Coach Armando Espinosa is looking forward to getting on the right track this weekend and is hoping to get back into the win column.

Last weekend Maty Cancini won against Kansas State at the No. 1 seed who is known to be very good. Regina Espindola battled the first set three points she could have done something, but was not able to finish.

“Both girls are taking the right steps forward and I am immensely proud of both of them,” Espinosa said.

During practice this week the Cyclones on Monday had the day off to be able to rest and get ready for this weekend. Tuesday, the Cyclones held an individual practice on what each player thought they needed to do better. On Wednesday the Cyclones focused on doubles play and hammered out some quick fixes to be more successful this weekend.

The Cyclones in the back of their minds know what is coming up, the Big 12 Championships on April 26-29 in Austin, Texas.

“What needs to happen in preparation for the Big 12 Championships is that we need to continue growing from where and what we are now,” Espinosa said. “This includes practicing and continuing to get better every day.

“Maty Cancini has been in a lot of matches that are close but is not able to finish out just quite yet.”

The Longhorns and Bears will be good for preparation for the Big 12 Championships.

“We are closing up with best teams I believe, Texas, Baylor, TCU and Texas Tech,” Espinosa said. “TCU and Texas Tech are not ranked but they honestly should be, they play very well and are determined every year, this weekend will be a good challenge.”

The game plan for the Cyclones this weekend is to get a win at any cost whatsoever.

“If we control the attitude and energy it will be huge for us,” Espinosa said. “Everything will fall into place if we have the right mindset.”

Even with Cancini and Espindola losing to Kansas State, Espinosa was proud of how hard both of the girls played.

“Probably one of toughest things about being a coach is keeping the players level headed and confident,” Espinosa said. “It was great to see that both of the girls were still determined to get a win even when they were losing.”

With the tennis season coming to a close, the team has grown tremendously and have been taking the right steps into the right direction.

“I am very impressed in how much we are growing this season,” Espinosa said. “We’ve taken many good steps this season, but there are some things that need to improve but it will all come in time.”

Since it is coming up on the end of the season the Cyclones have been in full-recruit mode. Iowa State held an early signing period early in November. The Cyclones have landed two women, one from Russia and the other from Arkansas.

“We are still looking for people to come to Iowa State and have been texting and calling tennis players to try and convince them to commit to the Cyclones,” Espinosa said.