Meghan Cassens, a senior-to-be at Decatur High School, will continue her tennis career at Iowa State University.

Cassens, a two-time Class 4A singles state champion, verbally committed to the Cyclone tennis program after visiting the campus on a recent recruiting trip, according to her father, John.

Cassens used every bit of her excellence on the tennis court to win her second straight Class 4A singles state title in the spring. The win capped her second unbeaten season in a row with a 6-1, 6-3 win over Stanwood’s Megan LaLone in the Tri-Cities.

But it was the semifinals that proved to be the turning point for Cassens during her 2010 run to the state title. Cassens survived a three-set marathon with Newport’s Angela Chan.

After winning the first set pretty easily, 6-2, Chan pulled out the second set, 6-4. Chan then won the first three games of the third set to take a commanding 3-0 lead. But Cassens responded by winning six of the next seven games to win the third set and the state title, 6-4.

It was the third year in a row that Cassens played in the state title match. She lost to Gig Harbor’s Christy Sipes as a freshman. This is still her only loss of her prep career at Decatur.

As a sophomore, Cassens beat Lake Stevens’ Antonia Liebenow in the title match and also helped the Gators capture the Class 4A team title. Decatur tied Kamiakin and Newport for the girls team championship. All three teams finished with 10 points.

According to tennisrecruiting.net, Cassens is currently the 74th-ranked recruit in the nation and the top recruit in the Northwest and Washington.

The Iowa State tennis team finished its season Thursday with a 9-15 overall record last season and 2-9 mark in the Big 12 Conference.