AMES, Iowa – The Iowa State tennis team returns home this week as they host two nationally ranked conference foes in No. 22 Oklahoma and No. 7 Texas.
The Schedule
Thursday, March 28th – Noon CT
Iowa State (2-12, 0-7) vs. From 22 Oklahoma (10-5, 5-2)
Life Time Fitness – Urbandale, Iowa
Saturday, March 30th – 11 a.m. CT
Iowa State (2-12, 0-7) vs. From 7 Texas (13-4, 6-1)
Ames High Tennis Courts – Ames, Iowa
Following the Matches
Live Stats links for the match are available at the top of the page.
The Series
The Cyclones are 1-49 against Oklahoma in 50 games against the Sooners. Iowa State played Oklahoma twice last year, once in Norman and once in Lawrence, at the Big 12 Championships. In both matches, the Cyclones battled but ultimately fell 4-1 and 4-3, respectively. Iowa State’s only win in the series came in 2001 in Ames, where the Cyclones took down the Sooners, 4-3.
Iowa State is 1-27 in 28 matches against the Texas Longhorns. The two programs matched up twice last season, once in Seattle for the ITA Indoor National Championships and once in Big 12 play in Austin. The Cyclones would split the matches, getting their first win ever against the Longhorns in Seattle, 4-1, and dropping the second match in Austin, 6-1. The Cyclones will look to get their second-ever win against the Longhorns as they come to Ames this weekend.
Last Time Out
Last weekend, the Cyclones traveled to Texas to take on two Big 12 conference foes, No. 30 Baylor and No. 52 TCU. Iowa State battled in both matches but ultimately fell 5-2 and 6-1, respectively.
Player to Watch
Gala Arangio is coming off her first Big 12 and first dual win as a Cyclone after she took down Baylor’s Danielle Tuhten last Friday, 6-1, 1-6, 1-0 (7). This win was her first since the Cyclones’ opening week of the spring season at the Dual in the Desert, where she took down Arkansas’ Grace O’Donnell, 6-4, 2-6, 7-5. The freshman from Buenos Aires, Argentina, will look to make it two in a row as the Cyclones host their conference foes this week.
Cyclone Tennis Quick Hit
Anna Supapitch Kuearum has nine wins against ranked opponents during her time at Iowa State. She’s gotten two of those wins in singles this season, taking down No. 85 Diane Hayashida of Iowa and No. 58 Vanessa Suarez of Kansas State. Kuearum is 7-6 this year at the No. 1 singles spot and 3-3 through seven conference matches so far.
In the Rankings
ITA currently ranks Oklahoma as the No. 22 teams in the nation. The Sooners have five players ranked in singles: No. 34 Dana Guzman, No. 39 Julia Garcia Ruiz, No. 50 Florencia Urrutia, No. 95 Alina Shcherbinina and No. 123 Ava Catanzarite. They also have three ranked doubles pairs: No. 3 Shcherbinina and Guzman, No. 20 Guzman and Roisin Gilheany, and No. 55 Ruiz and Zdena Safarova.
Texas is currently ranked No. 7 in the nation by ITA. Four players are ranked in singles: No. 21 Sabina Zeynalova, No. 23 Malaika Rapolu, No. 32 Tanya Sasnouskaya and No. 111 Taisiya Pachkaleva. They also have four pairs in the doubles rankings: No. 11 Zeynalova and Pachkaleva, No. 43 Pachkaleva and Nicole Rivkin, No. 65 Sasnouskaya and Zeynalova, and No. 72 Sasnouskaya and Charlotte Chavatipon.
Follow the Cyclones
Keep up with Iowa State Tennis by following @CycloneTEN on Twitter, @iowastatetennis on Instagram, and Iowa State Tennis on Facebook.
