Cyclones Victorious in Home Opener

URBANDALE, Iowa – The Iowa State tennis team (6-2, 0-0 Big 12) grabbed a 4-0 victory against Illinois State (3-4, 0-0 MVC) in its home opener at Life Time Fitness in Urbandale on Sunday.

The Cyclones started strong by winning the doubles point against the Redbirds. Illinois State was without one of their athletes due to illness, which meant Iowa State only had to win one doubles match in order to secure the point.

The duo of Sami Budai and Maty Cancini were impressive against the Redbirds as they beat the pairing of Jelena Karla Vijicic and MarciaTere-Apisah 6-3. Their win put the Cyclones up 1-0.

Due to another forfeit, Iowa State picked up its first point in singles for a 2-0 lead.

Iowa State never looked back after that, winning the next two singles matches to get the 4-0 win.

Regina Espindola started the rout for the Cyclones with a convincing win. Espindola defeated her Redbird opponent, Jana Kustkova, 6-1, 6-0.

Annabella Bonadonna then completed the sweep for Iowa State as she downed Valerija Gercar. Bonadonna was able to win a hard fought first set 6-4 but prevailed easily in the second set, 6-0.

The Cyclones have won six of their last seven matches and are on a three-match winning streak.

Iowa State will look to continue that streak when they make the trek to Florida next weekend. The Cyclones will do battle against Stetson and Flagler on Sunday.

Follow @CycloneTEN to get the updates next weekend.

Singles:

1. Sami Budai vs. Marcia Tere-Apisah 6-2, 4-6 (DNF)

2. Maty Cancini vs. Jelena Karla Vujicic 2-6, 6-1, 3-1 (DNF)

3. Regina Espindola def. Jana Kustkova 6-1, 6-0

4. Margarita Timakova vs. Gabriela Sprague 6-4, 3-4 (DNF)

5. Annabella Bonadonna def. Valerija Gercar 6-4, 6-0

6. Karen Alvarez (win by default)

Doubles:

1. Sami Budai/Maty Cancini def. Jelena Karla Vujicic/Marcia Tere-Aspisah 6-3

2. Annabella Bonadonna/Margarita Timakova vs. Jana Kustkova/Gabriela Sprague 2-5 (DNF)

3. Regina Espindola/Karen Alvarez (win by default)

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Players Mentioned

Karen Alvarez

Annabella Bonadonna

Maty Cancini

Regina Espindola

Margarita Timakova

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Iowa State University Athletics