The brooms arrived after a sweep for the ISU tennis team in its home opener and first match of the regular season. Iowa State defeated the University of Nebraska-Omaha 7-0.

Iowa State played Nebraska-Omaha for its home opener last season and swept them 7-0, so coach Armando Espinosa expected the same results.

Espinosa was using this match to get his lineup set for the Cy-Hawk matchup Feb. 6. The rivalry has heavily favored Iowa throughout the existence of ISU tennis. Iowa State has an all-time record of 3-19 against Iowa.

The area of focus entering Iowa is the improvement of doubles and starting with a faster pace. Espinosa was impressed with senior Ksenia Pronina and sophomore Samantha Budai’s 6-0 victory.

“Doubles was really slow in the beginning at number two with a 2-0 deficit, but number one doubles came out and did a great job with a 6-0 win,” Espinosa said.

Senior Meghan Cassens and junior Ana Gasparovic began the doubles match down 2-0, but came back to win six straight games and win 6-2. The two of them know the expectations entering the Cy-Hawk rivalry.

“I think Ana was a little tight on the net and I was tight on the baseline, but we realized we needed to play our game,” Cassens said.

In the third doubles match, senior Caroline Andersen and junior Alejandra Galvis started off strong, but got a little shaky in the middle of the match. They ended up winning 6-3, but Andersen’s shoulder played a small part in the close match.

Espinosa was impressed with the singles matches all around, numbers one through six.

“I felt we played very well disciplined and everyone came out and knew exactly what to do,” Espinosa said. “We came out composed and the results showed those efforts.”

The players knew these matchups were going to be easier and they know what to improve for the Iowa match.

“We know that there’s going to be longer and faster volleys with Iowa, so we need to be prepared to be more mobile and take advantage of key moments next weekend,” Budai said.

Overall, Espinosa was happy with the clean sweep in the home opener, but he knows that the matches won’t get easier with teams like Baylor and Texas in the Big 12 Conference.

The ISU tennis team will compete against Iowa on Feb. 6 and Utah State on Feb. 7 at the Hawkeye Tennis and Recreation Complex in Iowa City, Iowa.