The Iowa State women’s tennis team travels to Northridge, California, this weekend for the Cal-State Northridge Fall Invitational from Nov. 10 to Nov. 12.

The Cyclones are set to face Cal-State Northridge, Azusa Pacific, Cal-State Fullerton, Cal-State Los Angeles, Long Beach State, Oral Roberts, Sacramento State, UC Irvine, UC Riverside, UC Santa Barbara, Westmont and Youngstown State.

The Cal-State Northridge Fall invitational will be the last invitational for at least two months. Iowa State tennis fans will have to wait anxiously for the next couple months and prepare for the second half of the season. Coach Armando Espinosa said that the team has done very well this season and that the players just need to raise their tennis IQs.

“For us to keep improving, the wins will come if we raise our tennis IQ and we have been working on that quite a bit lately,” Espinosa said. “[We try] to establish some patterns to believe that this team can be successful, and if we can do that the wins will come to us.”

Sophomore Mary Cancini said she has to keep an eye out for her recent injury. Cancini has been on a minimal workload in practice this week.

“I have an injury in my arm and I have to be careful not to injure it even more,” Cancini said. “It’s in my shoulder so every time I serve I have pain, so I have to be very careful when practicing so I can be ready for the match.”

Cancini said her goal for this season is to have a better season than last year by winning more matches and staying competitive each match. She also wants to become a better teammate.

Junior Annabell Bonadonna said she needs to work on her mind. She wants to continue forming a game plan before each match instead of playing freely. 

Bonadonna said Espinosa has helped her focus on the things she can control, which are her movements and the way she hits the ball. She knows she can’t control her opponent, so she plays her best game and has fun doing it.

“[My goal this season is to] have a great record in singles and doubles because the past couple of years has not been my best showcase of what I can do,” Bonadonna said. “My other goal is to get into the first round of the Big 12 conference.”