Knowing it had to play at its highest level this past weekend, the women's tennis team's hopes fell when it dropped two hard-fought matches against William & Mary, 7-2, and James Madison, 5-4.

"The bottom line is William & Mary is great. They just really outmatched us," Coach Jan Bortner said. "I thought we had a real good effort. We lacked the aggressiveness."

In Friday's match, William & Mary, ranked No. 1 in the East, outmatched the Lady Lions in everything except the No. 1 singles and doubles matches. Penn State's No. 1 doubles team of Kelly Erven and Claudia Karabedian gave up its first set, but soon took control against William & Mary's Julie Kauzmarek and Danielle Durak, 5-7, 6-4, 6-3. The duo increased their record through fall and spring to 32-1.

"We knew it was going to be close," Durak said. "We just got a little tired. We probably should have been more aggressive."

The rest of the doubles matches were all William & Mary. In the second doubles match, Lady Lions Lisa Thomas and Caroline Pierce fell after a close first set, 6-7, 2-6.

Except for Erven's win over Kauzmarek, due to a default, William & Mary dominated the singles action as well.

Yesterday's match against James Madison, lasting over eight hours, was also frustrating for Penn State. The Lady Lions let a victory slip through their hands, as James Madison clinched a win after seven of the nine matches extended to three sets.

During the fall, the Lady Lions took James Madison, 5-4. This time, however, James Madison turned the tables on Penn State. The doubles team of Erven and Karabedian pulled off a win against James Madison's Justine Higgins and Renee Lemmerman, 5-7, 6-1, 6-0.

Erven, who missed some practice this week due to a foot injury, said that her doubles team played better against William and Mary, primarily because the pair knew they were facing a tougher team.

"The first set we were a bit tentative and we really weren't hitting the shots," Erven said. "The last two sets we felt a little more comfortable." After giving up their second set, 5-7, the No. 2 doubles combination of Thomas and Pierce failed to come back, and James Madison's Wendy Cross and Steph Baker clinched the win, 6-4, 5-7, 4-6.

Highlighting singles play was Karabedian's narrow victory of Cross, 6-1, 6-7, 6-4. No. 4 player Caroline Pierce put up a fierce fight against Renee Lemmerman, after losing her first set, 2-6, and came from behind (4-5) to win the second set, 7-5. But Lemmerman was too much for Pierce, as she won the third set, 6-3.

"I didn't think I played as well this weekend as I did at Syracuse, (but) I don't think I played bad," Pierce said.

Although the victory was already James Madison's, No. 5 Cathy Kissell and No. 6 Stephanie Erb came through each with a win, after three sets of heavy competition. Kissell defeated Jen Brandt, 6-1, 6-7, 6-3, and Erb captured a win over Baker, 4-6, 6-0, 6-2.

Bortner said that before the James Madison match, he had never had a match in which seven of the matches lasted three sets.

"This was a test of courage and of endurance," Bortner said. "Both matches went down to the wire. We don't have any time to feel sorry for ourselves. We just have to gear it up and get ready for next weekend."