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Iowa State women set to face Wisconsin after defeating Drake in 1st round of NCAA tennis tournament

For the first time in school history, Iowa State is hosting the first two rounds of the NCAA women's tennis tournament.

AMES, Iowa — Iowa State looked to continue its historic season in the NCAA women's tennis tournament

The Cyclones were selected to host the first and seconds rounds of the tournament for the first time in program history.

The day started off with doubles action and the first match was won by Drake's Ines Stephani and Oriana Parkins-Godwin, 6-1.

The Cyclones evened things out with a win from Miska Kadlekova and Sofia Cabezas, 6-3.

The doubles point all came down to Iowa State's Thasaporn Naklo and Anna Supapitch-Kuearum against Drake's Mille Haagensen and Darinka Stepan.

The Cyclones scored a 7-6 win to ultimately earn the doubles point.

In singles, Iowa State just needed three of their players to win their matches to secure the victory over Drake.

Kadleckova got the first win for the Cyclones defeating Elizabete Klavinska in straight sets.

Naklo was the next Cyclone to pick up a singles win defeating Ines Stephani, also in straights sets.

Shortly after that, play was stopped due to a rain delay, with Iowa State needing just one more singles win to advance in the tournament.

Play picked back up about two hours later at Lifetime Fitness in Urbandale.

Ange Oby Kajuru was able to seal the deal, defeating her opponent in straight sets, helping Iowa State get the 4-0 win over Drake.

Head Coach Boomer Saia said he's proud of how his team rolled with the punches and stayed focused.

"This was our adversity. We've had a lot of that this season and we always talk about that response," Saia said. "So really proud of our group, how we handled that. That's not any easy drive to come down here. We warm up and find a way to get four. That's a big thing."

Iowa State will face Wisconsin Saturday in the second round. a team they've had some epic battles with in the past.

"We're ready to go tackle that opportunity again," said Said. "I think our kids are excited just as much as I'm sure Wisconsin's are."

First serve is set for 1:00 p.m. on Saturday at the Ames High School tennis courts.

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