For the No. 15 Northwestern women’s tennis team, this weekend was a chance for two valuable regular-season wins when it traveled to play Ohio State and Penn State.

But instead of conquering their opponents, the depleted and worn-out Wildcats were upset by the Buckeyes 5-2 Saturday. NU then regrouped with a passionate team meeting and narrowly defeated the Nittany Lions 4-3 Sunday.

NU (15-4, 5-2 Big Ten) gave up a frustrating loss to Illinois the week before and was in search of a confidence booster. However, the surging Buckeyes (12-6, 5-1) — who moved into first place in the Big Ten after the weekend — proved too tough an opponent for the Cats.

“They are definitely much better and a completely different team than last year,” No. 2 singles player Shannon Duffy said of Ohio State.

The day began with the Buckeyes convincingly winning the two doubles matches needed to earn the team doubles point. The No. 3 doubles pair of Duffy and Leigh Weinraub were the only ones to get a win.

And like last week’s match against the Fighting Illini, NU couldn’t overcome the early setback in doubles. The Cats had to reshuffle the bottom of their lineup in the absence of No. 5 Marine Piriou and lost both the No. 5 and No. 6 singles slots in three-set matches.

Duffy and No. 4 Lia Jackson won the final matches of the day, but the damage was already done.

“Overall, the whole day was extremely disappointing,” Duffy said. “They were ready to play us and we were flat from the start.”

After the eye-opening loss to Ohio State, the Cats gathered for a team meeting in hopes of rescuing the weekend. NU usually holds meetings after matches, but the one Saturday featured a particular urgency.

NU coach Claire Pollard started the proceedings by confronting the issue at hand: the team’s play during consecutive losses. Then, the players stepped forward to address their concerns and highlighted their solutions.

“We identified some of the factors, the passion and desire on and off the court,” Duffy said. “The consensus was we weren’t having fun anymore.”

The team then traveled to University Park, Pa., and anxiously awaited Sunday’s matchup with a cellar-dwelling Penn State (7-6, 0-6) team.

However, d