The women's tennis team lost its third straight match Saturday, 7-0, at Michigan State.
The Cardinals started the season winning five straight matches. A majority of the wins were in convincing fashion with a five-point average margin of victory. The team also recorded three shutouts during that stretch.
In the last three matches the Cardinals have been outscored by 15 points, leading to an average margin of defeat of five points.
The Cardinals competed against Michigan State without No. 1 singles player Melissa Roach. Head coach Kathy Bull said sickness has played a part in the losing streak, but she said there were other reasons for the losses.
"We're really not performing up to our best level yet, and we have to figure out what the answer to that is," Bull said. "We're still focusing, at times, on the wrong things, and we still lose our composure a little bit, and those are some signs of some young players who are trying to figure things out."
Bull said the absence of Roach from the lineup might not have changed the overall outcome, but it might have made the match more competitive.
"I just know that our chances would have been much better for all of us to be in the position we're comfortable with," Bull said. "I'm not going to say we could've beaten them, but I don't think there is any doubt that we could've maybe taken a couple of points from them."
Bull said the team's first focus is to get healthy. The second goal she has for the team is to play better tennis, which she said will bring an end to the losing streak.
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