After a promising start to the season, the Iowa State tennis team fell 4-1 to Kansas State in the first round of the Big 12 Championship on Thursday afternoon in Norman, Oklahoma. The loss ended the Cyclones’ season. 

The Cyclones came into the Big 12 Tournament on an eight-game losing skid. 

The Wildcats got out to a hot start, taking No. 1 and 2 doubles — both with scores of 6-4. The No. 3 doubles match DNF at 5-5. With the Cyclones down an early point, they needed a spark to get back into the match.

Despite Maty Cancini’s triumph at the No. 2 spot 6-1, 6-2, the Cyclones couldn’t fight back. The Cyclones dropped the No. 1, 5 and 6 matches by a wide margin. 

The loss marks the end of Samantha Budai and Natalie Phippen’s careers at Iowa State. Budai is on multiple top-10 program lists and will go down as one of the best tennis players at Iowa State.

The Cyclones finished 15-11 on the season and 1-8 in the Big 12, the best record since the 1984-85 season, when the team tallied 24 wins.