Cyclone Tennis Looks Ahead To Spring Campaign

AMES, Iowa – The Iowa State tennis team will open its spring season with two home matches against Augustana (S.D.) and South Dakota on Saturday, Jan. 27. The Cyclones will face the Vikings at 10 a.m., followed by the Coyotes at 3 p.m. The first match will be held at the Roger Knapp Tennis Center in Des Moines, and the second match will be played at the Life Time Fitness in Urbandale. This match will enable ISU to begin preparing for the challenging Big 12 schedule that will begin in March.

About the Opponents

This will be ISU's fourth match up against the Vikings. ISU leads the series with a 3-0 record. In last year's competition, ISU came out with a 4-1 victory on the road.

ISU leads 2-0 in its series history with South Dakota, with the only dual matchups being in 2010 and 2014. Most recently, the Cyclones met up with the Coyotes in last fall's Gopher Invitational and Jon Messick Invitational. At the Gopher Invitational, Regina Espindola defeated South Dakota's Marta-Anna Tynna in the consolation finals, while the Coyote's Habiba Aly defeated Maty Cancini in the final match for fifth place.

Taking on the Big 12

Come March, ISU will take on a challenging schedule with opponents in the Big 12 Conference. The Cyclones hope to improve on last season's ninth-place finish in the conference. To open play, ISU will travel to Stillwater to take on Oklahoma State on March 17, followed by Oklahoma on March 18. Later on, ISU will host its first pair of Big 12 matches on April 6 and 8 against Kansas and Kansas State. After, the Cyclones will host its final matches before participating in the Big 12 Championships. TCU will come to ISU, followed by an experienced Texas Tech team, which tied for first in the Big 12 with Oklahoma State last season.

The Last Serve

At the last competition of the fall season, ISU competed in the CSUN Invitational. Bonadonna had an impressive performance at the tournament, finishing first in her bracket, bouncing back with a 4-6, 6-4, 6-1 victory. Annabella Bonadonna will look to continue her successful junior year this spring.

Freshman Ekaterina Repina hopes to gain more collegiate tennis experience. In her last competition at the CSUN Invitational, she played at the No. 3 singles position and finished with an overall record of 3-1 at the tournament.

Margarita Timakova also had an impactful fall season. Playing primarily at the No. 3 spot in singles action, Timakova put up a strong fight competing against talented players at the Gopher Invitational. She played for third in her bracket, but fell to Minnesota's AnneMarie Emme. Timakova also hopes to continue the success she found last spring as a freshman. Last season, she won 10 of 11 singles matches and won 11 consecutive matches alongside doubles partner Bonadonna.

Stay Connected

Make sure to arrive early for Saturday's matches that are slated to begin at 10 a.m. Follow @CycloneTEN on Facebook and Twitter to receive the latest updates on the team's performance throughout the weekend. Live stats will be available at cyclonestats.com.

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Players Mentioned

Annabella Bonadonna

Maty Cancini

Regina Espindola

Ekaterina Repina

Margarita Timakova

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Iowa State University Athletics