The Penn State women's tennis team was defeated by both its competitors this weekend despite a hard-fought battle.

Friday's matchup against the University of Pennsylvania was the first road loss for the Nittany Lions. They were defeated 5-2, despite a victory by freshman Lauren Holzberg in singles as well as a doubles win with her partner, junior Sasha Abraham.

Penn State women's tennis coach Buffy Baker said the duo played a good match.

"Against Penn, I thought that Lauren Holzberg had a good singles match," Baker said. "Sasha and Lauren at doubles had great wins against two teams that are top in the East Region and a team that was top 40 in the country last year."

The Lions also battled Virginia this weekend, suffering a 7-0 loss. Abraham and Holzberg struggled to defeat their opponents in the singles match, both losing by small margins. The doubles match didn't fare well for the pair either, as it fell three points short of a victory.

"Sasha has taken a freshman, Lauren, under her wings," Baker said. "It has given us a lot of options for doubles combinations."

Baker was satisfied with the level of competition overall but pointed out that it was not great.

"It's not good enough against good teams," Baker said.

"I feel like we fall in that category, but we are inconsistent at keeping our level."

The team's goals include learning how to compete, having discipline in its shots, and practicing at a higher level to simulate what will be required in match play.

"We need to learn how to construct our points better," Baker said. "Be in love with the construction of your point instead of your ending shot."

The team will compete next weekend with one more player. Jenny Shular returned to the lineup after being out with mononucleosis.