The UW-Eau Claire men’s tennis team fell in two competitions this weekend to end their four-match winning streak.

At the Racine Racquet and Fitness Club Friday, Eau Claire fell to Elmhurst College (Ill.) 7-2 and later lost their next match to Carthage College 6-3 on Saturday.

“We had a lot of three-set matches this weekend,” senior captain Joe Meier said. “But I think our team competed really well for being as young as we are.”

The only Blugolds to win both of their matches were Meier and other senior captain Ryan Vande Linde at No. 1 doubles. They won 9-8 against Elmhurst Friday, and Saturday backed that up with an 8-4 victory against Carthage. The duo now is 8-2 on the season and have won eight matches in a row.

Head coach Tom Gillman said this weekend’s matches were against some quality opponents, and the team should be happy about how they performed despite the results.

“This weekend was a growth weekend for us,” Gillman said. “We had some extremely tough matches, and I believe we can walk away feeling confident and like we belonged on the court with our opponents.”

On Friday, sophomore Kyle Hoffmann and freshman Josh Chuba took home an 8-6 victory over Elmhurst in doubles. Meanwhile Saturday, sophomore Nathan Tretsven and freshman Luke Zwiener beat their opponents from Carthage College in a close 9-8 doubles match.

However, the Blugolds struggled in singles play. Freshman Will Weyenberg was the lone Blugold to win a match in singles over the weekend, picking up a 6-1, 6-4 victory at No. 6 singles against Carthage. Weyenberg has won six straight matches and sits at 6-2 on the season for the Blugolds.

Vande Linde said he thinks his team performed well this weekend and were extremely close in many matches, but what brought the team down were the struggles in individual play.

“I think the big thing that we can improve upon is our singles play,” Vande Linde said. “We have really come out and dominated most matches in doubles but have struggled individually in our losses.”

The 14-man roster is comprised of nine freshmen, three sophomores and only two seniors.

“People forget how young we really are, but also within that youth how successful we are,” Vande Linde said. “These freshmen and sophomores have such great attitudes, and mentally you can’t tell they are as young as they really are.”

The Blugolds now sit at 5-5 on the season after the pair of losses over the weekend and will compete in Hilton Head Island, S.C., during spring break, playing six opponents March 16-20.