ISU coach Armando Espinosa looks back on the tennis calendar and sees the Big 12 conference has grown in strength during the past few years.

Looking at the current Intercollegiate Tennis Association women’s tennis rankings, there are six teams ranked in the top 35. With Baylor, Texas, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, TCU and Texas ranked, the ISU tennis team focuses on West Virginia, Kansas and Kansas State.

“Our biggest rivals are West Virginia and Kansas State because we always compete with them,” said senior Meghan Cassens.

The team is the underdog throughout most of the Big 12 regular season because of the amount of ranked opponents in the conference. But when the Cyclones play teams like West Virginia and Kansas State, they become the favorites. They have an opportunity to improve their record and compete in the Big 12 standings at the end of the year.

Espinosa said the Big 12 is a tough conference but it’s certainly not the toughest. The Pac-12 and SEC have the most ranked teams among conferences in the country. The Pac-12 and SEC have 10 teams ranked inside the top 75. There are four top-10 teams in the Pac-12 and three in the SEC.

“The Big 12 is close to the Pac-12 and SEC regarding toughness,” said sophomore Natalie Phippen. “I love playing in the Big 12 and competing against top ranked teams every time. It makes me a better player.”

Not only has it made Phippen a better player, it has made Iowa State a better team. Espinosa said this year has been one of his best years at Iowa State. The team has two wins in the Big 12 conference and three more Big 12 teams left to play.

“Our losses in the Big 12 have been close, so we consider it a win for our team,” said senior Ksenia Pronina. “These close wins build our confidence going into the Big 12 championship at the end of the month.”

The two wins this season were 4-3 victories against West Virginia and Kansas State. The remainder of Big 12 matches for the ISU tennis team consisted of 4-2 losses to Texas, Oklahoma and Kansas, along with a 4-0 loss against Baylor.

Cassens said these losses were closer than previous years, so it shows that the ISU program is slowly progressing. The ISU tennis program is getting closer to defeating ranked opponents like Oklahoma and Texas. Once the team earns a win, Espinosa said Iowa State will be a better recruitment site.

“It’s hard to recruit players to Iowa State in a conference where all your opponents are located in the southern part of the country,” Espinosa said. “When you have cold weather, tough competition and are ranked lower in the Big 12, it’s hard to recruit players.”

Espinosa believes the recruitment process will rise in the next few years because of the improvement to the tennis program.

“The Big 12 conference is tough but I believe you should play in a conference that’s tough,” Cassens said. “It allows you to work hard on your weaknesses to improve your game and improve your record in the Big 12 conference.”