The Intercollegiate Tennis Association Regionals are just around the corner, and the ISU tennis team is preparing to play against their biggest competition this fall.

However, coach Armando Espinosa will not be traveling with the team this weekend. Instead, assistant coach Chris Williams will be attending the regionals along with the four players.

This tournament is different compared to the other invitationals because there’s a qualifying day on Oct. 15 and three days of tournament play, Oct. 16 – Oct. 18. The regionals is a win-or-go-home type of tournament which adds pressure and higher expectations.

“This year I’m expecting to at least win a round again in doubles and qualify for the singles main draw since I wasn’t able to last year,” said sophomore Samantha Budai.

This weekend will consist of four players: Budai, senior Meghan Cassens, senior Ksenia Pronina and junior Ana Gasparovic. Some of these players will be competing for the first time at the ITA Regionals.

“I’m excited to go because this is the first time I am able to go throughout my four years at Iowa State,” Cassens said.

Espinosa has high expectations for this weekend and wants every player to qualify for singles and doubles.

“We’re hoping everyone can qualify for the main draw, but it all depends on the luck of the draw,” Espinosa said.

Since this will be a doubles tournament, Espinosa will pair Cassens and Gasparovic together and Pronina and Budai for the weekend. Cassens and Gasparovic were paired last season, as well as during the Gopher Invitational this season.

“We continue to play better and better with each other,” Cassens said. “We know how to play to be able to make each other play better.”

Pronina and Budai played together last year and Espinosa is expecting the two to be the number one pairing for the team in the spring.

“In the past I’ve never done very well in this tournament,” Pronina said. “Hopefully we can incorporate what we’ve done in practice to the matches this weekend.”

On a positive note, the team is healthy and freshman Anna Garcia is starting to swing the racket more. Garcia went to the doctor last week to get a nagging back injury looked at and the MRI came back negative. She is gradually starting to participate in practice more often.

“I’ve been practicing more and more every day and I’ve been feeling no pain,” Garcia said. “I’m hoping to play in Houston, but we have to see the progress on my back.”

The ITA Regionals will be the first tournament where the ISU tennis team will compete against other Big 12 teams. The Big 12 field includes Oklahoma State, Oklahoma, Kansas State and Kansas. Other schools competing include Iowa, Minnesota, Tulsa, Missouri and Nebraska.

The action starts on Oct. 15 when the qualifying round starts, and the main draw tournament play starts on Oct. 16.