The Penn State women's tennis team ended its six-game winning streak with two losses against Virginia Tech and Old Dominion University this past weekend.
The Nittany Lions (6-7, 1-2 Big Ten), ranked No. 72, fell to Old Dominion, 6-1, on Saturday. The women faced tough competition in the singles matches, only winning the No. 3 match. Maaira Husain defeated Kerstin Endlich, 6-1, 5-7, 6-3.
Singles players Leigh Ann Merryman, Judy Wang, Sarah Spence and Lindsay Downing, kept fighting, taking all their matches to three sets.
The women also failed to capture their doubles point, going 0-3. The No. 1 doubles duo of Merryman and Husain fell to Nataly Canana and Maretha Van Niekerk of Old Dominion, 8-4.
The team of Wang and Marton fell, 9-8 in No. 2 doubles, and Spence and Downing lost 8-2 at No. 3.
In a press release head coach Buffy Baker stressed the problems with only playing three outdoor matches this season.
Baker felt that the women were still stuck in an indoor mentality.
Freshman Lindsay Downing spoke of the frustration this past weekend.
"The conditions really affected us. It was hard with the wind, it is something that we are not used to" Downing said. "We pushed as hard as we could."
The women also struggled on Sunday in Blacksburg, Va., losing a 6-1 decision, to the Hokies of Virginia Tech.
The 11-9 Hokies pushed hard in singles matches, winning 5 of 6, and locking in the doubles point with wins from the No. 1 and No. 3 doubles position.
No. 2 singles player Leigh Ann Merryman scored the only singles victory for the Nittany Lions, winning 6-2, 6-1 against Carolyn Kramer of Virginia Tech.
The Nittany Lions only win in doubles play came from the No. 3 pair of Megan Marton and Judy Wang who defeated Elissa Kinard and Kramer, 8-6.
"Coming off a six-game winning streak, things were going really well, and now these two losses are really a wake-up call for us" Downing said. "We need to keep raising the bar and pushing ourselves."
The women will have hard practices this week, with possible outside practices being weather dependent.
