Road wins have been tough to capture this season for the Penn State women's tennis team. With a 5-2 loss to Michigan on Saturday and a 5-2 loss to Michigan State yesterday, the team ends its regular season without a single road victory.

Penn State women's tennis coach Buffy Baker said the Nittany Lions (8-12, 2-8 Big Ten) had a well-played match against Michigan, a top-30 team.

"We were neck-and-neck with them," she said. "We battled well."

Junior Katelyn BeVard helped the Lions in their fight, capturing a great win at No. 3 singles and freshman Leyla Morzan also defeated her opponent at No. 6.

According to Baker, Michigan is the better team of the two they played this weekend, and she felt her team kept them on the ropes.

"Each time we show up, we've got two good teams out there trying to win, trying to compete, and that puts us behind the eight ball," Baker said.

Junior Sasha Abraham said playing Michigan State was one of the team's hardest battles.

"Except [freshman Lauren] Holzberg, who took care of business, it was a real struggle for both teams," Abraham said. "Michigan State fought a hard match, but I think as long as everyone is happy with the way they competed, this is a good match to have right before Big Tens -- but we definitely would've loved to win."

Holzberg did exceptionally well coming away with a victory over her Michigan State opponent.

"I thought I played okay, some points went my way and some didn't," Holzberg said. "It came down to a couple of close games and close sets but everyone played well."

The team has continuously struggled on the road, dealing with travel mishaps and adjusting to different court styles, but Baker said the Lions aren't the only team struggling to capture away wins.

"There is a tremendous parody in the Big Ten and home advantage has played out this season for every team -- Michigan State has also struggled on the road," Baker said.

The Lions lost two tight matches going into the Big Ten championships but team spirits are surprisingly high.

According to Abraham, there are two ways of looking at it: with the approach of being bummed out about this weekend -- which makes it hard to compete in Big Ten -- or looking at it positively and coming out with extra fight.

"Most of us are looking at it positively," she said.

Baker is impressed with the team's progress but is still not content with the turnout this weekend.

"I'm bummed. These matches were really great battles," she said. "In my opinion, if you've done everything you can to control the level of fight, you walk away knowing you have succeeded."

From a coaching perspective, Baker said she thinks the difference in a game is minute. It's about controlling the controllable and having belief when your back is against the wall.

Still, she said she is not disappointed with the team.

"I'm upset we lost two tough matches, but I'm not upset with the team's progress," Baker said. "Every weekend, it's a matter of who's managing the emotional state of where you are in season, and we did a good job of managing that."