Iowa State women's tennis heading to NCAA Super Regional for first time in program history

The Iowa State women's tennis team isn't sneaking up on anybody these days.

A program mired in futility for the better part of its existence has turned over a new leaf since coach Boomer Saia took over ahead of the 2018-19 season. Before Saia stepped foot on campus in Ames, the Cyclones hadn't reached the NCAA Tournament since the program's inception in 1973. Now, in just five years at the helm, Saia has guided Iowa State to three straight NCAA appearances.

On Saturday, he added another checkmark to his resume by leading the Cyclones to their first NCAA Super Regionals appearance. No. 12 Iowa State toppled Wisconsin 4-1 on Saturday to clinch a spot as one of the final 16 teams competing for a national title.

"Pretty incredible, what a journey it's been," Saia said. "We're just trying to stay present, enjoy it as much as possible, but then dive right back in and get ready for (the Super Regionals)."

When Iowa State hits the courts on Friday afternoon with a spot in the NCAA quarterfinals at stake, it'll be a familiar foe in No. 20 UCLA on the other side of the net. The two teams met back in January at a tournament in South Florida and the Cyclones squeaked out a 4-3 win, even after losing two doubles points.

That victory helped Iowa State move to 3-1 on the young season, but it did a lot more than that. It gave the team the confidence that they can go toe-to-toe with anybody, even the powerhouse programs in the sport.

"It started with UCLA, it gave us evidence that we were one of the best teams in the country," Saia said. "Then our team did just an incredible job riding that momentum from January until now. ... We've stepped up in really big moments and it's been cool to see."

The Cyclones won't have to travel far when they take on the Bruins. The team from sunny Southern California will be making the trip to Ames to play, where temperatures could be as low as 60 degrees with a chance of rain, according to the most recent forecast.

All but three of the remaining 16 teams in the tournament come from outside the Midwest. Only the Cyclones, Michigan and Ohio State are still pushing forward from the part of the nation that isn't blessed with nice weather from November until April or May. Only Iowa State and the Wolverines, a 5-seed, are hosting a Super Regional.

While all eight players on the Iowa State roster come from outside the United States, they still feel a certain sense of Midwestern pride in being able to accomplish all this without the benefit of living in a traditional geographic tennis hotbed.

"It's a pretty cool thing when you're a non-blueblood tennis school and you're starting to break that status quo, if you will," Saia said. "It takes special people to do special things and we have eight really-invested kids and it takes that belief to shake that up. I am very proud of them because we never played to the history (of the program), we just did our own thing."

The group of eight is led by No. 1 singles player Thasaporn Naklo, who posted a 21-10 record this season, and No. 2 singles player Ange Oby Kajuru, who went 23-6 on the year. Naklo also earned a spot in the field of 64 at the NCAA Women's Singles Championship later this month. Kajuru is an alternate for that competition.

The Cyclones take on the Bruins on Friday at 1 p.m. at the Ames High Tennis Complex.

Contact Deputy Sports Editor Will Kennedy at Wkennedy@dmreg.com. Follow him on Twitter @ByWillKennedy

This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Iowa State tennis makes history, punches ticket to NCAA Super Regional