The No. 50 Auburn Women's Tennis team was defeated by two SEC West rivals this weekend.
The team traveled to Fayetteville Friday to take on the No. 22 Razorbacks where the Tigers felt a painful 6-1 defeat. The loss allowed Arkansas to steal the No. 2 spot in the West.
In hopes of redemption, the team fell again Sunday, this time to the Tigers of LSU. The last time the two teams matched up it was Auburn who came out with the win, making the 5-2 loss that much more painful for AU.
Friday, Myrthe Molenveld was the lone victor for the Tigers. She defeated sophomore Razorback Emily Carbone in singles.
"It was a very disappointing weekend, we were hoping to get wins and we didn't," Molenveld said.
Molenveld said she couldn't pinpoint any real high points from the matches at Arkansas, but thought the doubles matches at LSU did have some positive moments.
Auburn won two out of the three doubles matches in Baton Rouge--an improvement after its three losses at Arkansas just days before.
"We had some new combinations together (at LSU) and that gave us the points for doubles," Molenveld said, "I think we need to believe that we can beat anybody, It's all about trusting your teammates and trusting yourself."
One of the new combinations that found success was the duo of Molenveld and her partner, freshman Paulina Schippers. The pair landed an 8-2 win in Baton Rouge after a loss together at Arkansas.
Fani Chifchieva, a senior 3-time ITA All-American, also said she saw improvement in doubles on Sunday.
"We started getting better at LSU once we were winning the doubles points," Chifchieva said. "But then we did not do well in singles as a team."
And singles is where Auburn struggled most, coming out of the weekend with just two wins, one from Molenveld on Friday and the other from Chifchieva, who is ranked 54th in singles, on Sunday at LSU.
Despite her victory in Baton Rouge, overall, Chifchieva was disappointed in the results.
"For me personally I was disappointed in my match," Chifchieva said of the Arkansas duel she was defeated in, "I could have definitely done more and won the points and that is why I am so disappointed."
Looking ahead, the team still has 3 strong SEC opponents to try to take off the map before NCAA's begin.
"I think we have a really strong team," Molenveld said, "we just didn't show it this weekend, and that's disappointing for everybody."
Chifchieva is preparing for the rest of her senior season by staying focused. She understands what it takes to get deep into NCAA's as she has made it to the Sweet 16 and semifinals in her years at Auburn.
"The SEC is the toughest conference and everybody (in the SEC) fights until the last point," Chifchieva said. "We need to do whatever is needed to win in order to qualify for the NCAA regionals."
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