Not feeling well coming into the ITA Regionals, junior Ana Gasparovic didn’t know how much energy was left in the tank for the weekend. Turns out she had some to spare and won some of her matches before it was all said and done.

Gasparovic was under the weather the weekend of Oct. 10-12 and didn’t participate in practice the week before the tournament. The coaches and players didn’t know what to expect from her due to the sickness and the few matches she has played this fall.

“I gave all my energy to my first couple matches in singles, so I was not 100 percent to play the main draw,” Gasparovic said. “I still gave my 100 percent in the matches, but what can you do?”

Gasparovic’s 100 percent led to a win in the first round and another win in the second round of qualifying. It also helped in her doubles match with senior Meghan Cassens on Oct. 16.

Cassens said she had a rough weekend with losing in the first round of qualifying, but on Saturday she was able to come back and win in the consolation bracket. Cassens and Gasparovic had similar views on their doubles performance.

“The teams we played were beatable, but we didn’t play our best game,” Cassens said. “We should have won both of our matches for doubles.”

The other pairing, sophomore Samantha Budai and senior Ksenia Pronina, played the same way this weekend as Cassens and Gasparovic.

Pronina had an automatic bid into the main draw for singles, so losing in straight sets in the first round was not ideal.

“My expectations for this weekend were too high which was in the way of me playing well,” Pronina said.

This weekend made the players realize the competition level in the Big 12 and what to expect for the regular season. The team will see some of the Big 12 teams in a couple of weeks.

Practice will focus on singles and doubles strategies as well as getting conditioned for the Jason’s Deli Collegiate Invitational in Houston, Tx. There’s a lot of pressure on the players going into the last invitational for the fall because this is where the coaches form their lineups.

The doubles lineup is pretty much formed with the number one and two pairings with the third pairing still up for grabs. Coach Armando Espinosa has a good idea of who he wants for singles, but isn’t sure of the order of seeds.

The ISU tennis team has a couple weeks of practice to get ready for the Jason’s Deli Collegiate Invitational on Oct. 31-Nov. 2.