UW-Eau Claire senior doubles partners Joe Meier and Ryan Vande Linde came out firing at No. 1 doubles Sunday against St. Cloud State (Minn.).

They pulled off the early victory, but after struggles in singles play, the Blugolds slowly fell out of contention.

Despite the loss, the Eau Claire men’s tennis team is happy with its performances after a win on Saturday and strong efforts on Sunday, Vande Linde said.

“There were a ton of strong points to take away from this weekend,” Vande Linde said. “We worked extremely hard in both matches, and still had fun even in a loss.”

The Blugolds cruised to a 9-0 victory against St. Ambrose University (Iowa) at the McPhee Physical Education Center Saturday, but struggled Sunday against a tough Division II opponent in St. Cloud State, losing 7-2.

On Saturday in singles play, the Blugolds won all six matches and lost only a combined seven games as all won in straight sets.

Meier said they showed strong play throughout on Saturday.

“Our team did a great job of playing at a consistent level on Saturday by always moving our feet,” Meier said. “Making good shot choices and staying strong mentally to make quick work of our opponents.”

The Blugolds got strong performances from the underclassmen. Sophomore Nathan Tretsven and freshmen Will Weyenberg and Conrad Felten all won with scores of 6-0, 6-0 at No. 3, No. 4 and No. 5 singles, respectively.

The No. 3 combo of freshman Luke Zwiener and sophomore Jordon Stevens didn’t drop a game as they won 8-0 in doubles. The two other doubles teams composed of Meier and Vande Linde at No. 1, and freshmen Michael Mauthe and Austin Auleta at No. 2 both controlled their matches throughout with 8-2 victories.

Despite the individual success Saturday, head coach Tom Gillman said he still sees some room for improvement.

“It’s easy to show up and do things well in practice,” Gillman said. “But remembering the things you worked on all week and displaying them in the match is tough, and that’s where our inexperience comes into play.”

On Sunday, the lone victories against Division II St. Cloud State went to Meier and Vande Linde at No. 1 doubles, and to Weyenberg at No. 5 singles.

Weyenberg has been a bright spot in singles for the Blugolds switching between No. 4 and No. 5 throughout the season and winning 12 straight matches dating back to February to post a 12-2 record thus far.

Meier said tackling two different levels of competition in one weekend will help the team as the season progresses.

“Playing great competition like we did Sunday definitely helps us grow,” he said. “It teaches younger players that even if you play two very different teams in one weekend, our game shouldn’t change just because one team is drastically better than the other.”

The loss on Sunday drops the team to 12-6 on the season and ends its win streak at seven in a row.

The Blugolds will be on the road next weekend for three more contests. They will face Luther College (Iowa) in Winona, Minn., on Friday and will play the University of Dubuque (Iowa) and Edgewood College in Madison on Sunday.