Cyclones Overcome Pilots in Seattle
 
SEATTLE, Wash. --- Freshman Maja Mladenovic and sophomore Anastasia Polyakova each picked up straight set victories, but the Iowa State Cyclones held off the Portland Pilots, 5-2, Saturday at the Nordstrom Tennis Center.
 
Portland moves to 5-6 on the year while Iowa State improves to 2-5.
 
Iowa State took an early 2-0 advantage after sweeping the doubles point and winning the second position.
 
The Pilots quickly tied the match, however, as Polyakova polished off a 6-1, 6-3 win over Ana Gasparovic. Shortly thereafter, Mladenovic closed out a 6-0 second set to top Simona Cacciuttolo in the top spot.

"Both Nastya and Maja played very decisive tennis and took advantage of the opportunities in their matches," Portland head coach Susie Campbell-Gross said after the match.
 
Iowa State responded by taking the remaining three matches to hold off the Pilots. Freshman Saroop Dhatt had the best look for the Pilots, dropping a close first set, 7-5, before posting a convincing 6-0 score in the second set.
 
The Cyclones’ Emma Waites held Dhatt off in the final set, 6-3, however.

 "We are in a new territory this season, playing a lot of close matchesagainst top programs and our girls have embraced the battle as a steppingstone to winning," added Campbell-Gross. "We just gave to make sure we learn from these matches and take advantage of these kinds of opportunities in the future."
 
The Pilots return to Portland after a four match road trip to take on Montana and Gonzaga next weekend.  Portland takes on the Grizzlies on Friday at noon before resuming West Coast Conference play against the Bulldogs on Saturday at 1 p.m.