The No. 50 UNM women's tennis team is in uncharted territory after uncharacteristically dropping two matches at home this weekend.
After falling 6-1 to No. 46 Boise State on Friday, UNM dropped a 4-3 heartbreaker against Northern Arizona on Sunday.
Now, the usually superb Lobos find themselves in the middle of a five-game losing streak.
Head coach Kathy Kolankiewicz said the team has struggled lately.
"The biggest thing right now is that we have no confidence," she said. "Yes, we've had a difficult schedule. But it's not going to get any easier from here. Our conference has six teams in the top 60 and four in the top 45."
With the losses, UNM is now 2-7 overall with six of the seven losses coming against teams ranked in the top 50.
Get content from The Daily Lobo delivered to your inbox
Kolankiewicz said having a tough schedule can be a double-edged sword.
"If you are playing well, it's great because you have the opportunity to get some big wins over teams who will probably be playing in the NCAA Tournament," she said. "But if you're not playing well, it's hard to notch a win and rack up the confidence."
On Friday, sophomore Victoria Tessmar was the Lobos' lone win with a 3-6, 6-4, 12-10 victory over BSU's Bianca Jochimsen.
Junior Mackenzie White said Boise State is a good team but that the score should have been closer.
"We've had a rough time these past couple of weeks," she said. "We've played OK, but not spectacular. It's like we've been watching too much UNM football or something."
UNM responded Sunday with a sluggish start in doubles. Senior Ola Abou-Zekry and sophomore Emma Hayman were 8-6 winners. But, it was the only doubles win the Lobos could muster.
"We feel like we should have won the doubles point," Tessmar said. "It would have gotten us that extra point we needed, and I think it hurt our momentum heading into singles."
The Lobos were able to tie the score at 3-3 with singles wins by Abou-Zekry, White and Hayman. However, Tessmar dropped a hard-fought 4-6, 6-4, 6-3 match to Orsi Golovics to clinch the match for NAU.
Tessmar said she let the team down with the loss.
"I wish I'd won that match," she said afterward. "(Golovics) played good though, especially in the third set."
Kolankiewicz said the team will practice hard this week to get out of the slump.
"Our effort is there, but we just have to put in more time until we can pull ourselves up," she said. "We're only a third of the way through the season. The good news is we've still got two thirds of the season to turn this around."
Next week, the Lobos look to rebound against in-state rival New Mexico State, a team UNM has not lost to in more than five years.
"We haven't lost to NMSU since I've been here," White said. "And we certainly aren't planning on it. We'll put in a week of good practice, and we'll be ready for them come Sunday."
UNM vs. NMSU
Sunday, 11 a.m.
UNM Tennis Complex
