After nearly a week off, the OU women’s tennis team will once again hit the court at 11 a.m. Friday in Fayetteville, Ark. to take on the No. 32-ranked Arkansas Razorbacks.

The Sooners are coming off their second loss of the year, a 5-2 defeat to No. 20 Tulsa. However, coach David Mullins said he was actually quite pleased with his team’s performance in the loss.

Though the final score seems lopsided, the Sooners were within a few points from turning the match around and having a shot at an upset.

“I want to feel every match that there’s a period, even if it’s ten or fifteen minutes, that I see there’s a chance we can win,” Mullins said. “And I did feel like we had a shot at it, so overall I was happy.”

The Sooners fought hard for the doubles point against the Golden Hurricane but came up just short. After sophomore Whitney Wofford and freshman Nicole Long were defeated at the No. 2 doubles position, senior Marie-Pier Huet and sophomore Whitney Ritchie finished off their opponents at one doubles to immediately tie the match back up.

All eyes were then on the No. 3 doubles court. Freshman Abbi Melrose and sophomore Mia Lancaster played a very long match, but Tulsa’s Michelle Farley and Isaura Enrique were able to grind out the 8-4 victory. Tulsa had the 1-0 lead, and never looked back.

OU was only able to take two of its singles matches, with Melrose winning at the No. 4 position and Long coming out victorious at the No. 6 spot.

All of OU’s losses came in close matches, though. The Sooners simply weren’t able to close out their opponents when they had the chance. Mullins said fighting for singles points is something his team will have to get better at as the season progresses.

“I think they will get better,” Mullins said. “They need to get used to losing that doubles point and coming out and understanding that doubles isn’t our strongest point this year. We’re just going to have to win a lot more singles matches.”

Arkansas has not shared OU’s recent woes. The Razorbacks are currently on a 4-game winning streak since losing to Nebraska on Jan. 28. Most recently, the team recorded a dominant 5-2 win over No. 53 Kansas State for its fifth win of the year.

The Razorbacks are led by the play of junior Claudine Paulson. Paulson won her sixth straight match Sunday afternoon, and has yet to go to a third set in any of her singles matches this year. She is a perfect 6-0 at the No. 4 singles position for the Razorbacks.

After facing the Razorbacks at 11 a.m. Friday, the Sooners will stay in Fayetteville, Ark. for a match with No. 25-ranked Yale. It will be a trying weekend for the Sooners and a good chance for the young team to gain more experience in what are almost certain to be two very tightly contested matches.