With the Atlantic 10 conference tournament looming, the women’s tennis team finished its season at Saint Louis last weekend.

The Bulldogs lost to their conference opponent 7-0.

The team will begin conference tournament play today in Charlottesville, Va.

The men’s tennis team was also at Saint Louis last weekend for its final conference match of the season.

The Bulldogs came away with a 5-2 victory.

Sophomores Austin Woldmoe, Pulok Bhattacharya, Billy Weldon and Ruben Geeraert all picked up singles wins.

Butler will take on Cleveland State this weekend in its final regular season match.

The Butler men’s tennis team fell to  No. 31 nationally-ranked Notre Dame 7-0 last weekend.

For the Bulldogs (8-11) freshman Brandon Woods took his No. 4 singles match into a third-set tie-breaker before falling 2-1.

Woods, combined with sophomore doubles partner Pulok Bhattacharya, won five games before eventually losing 8-5.

In singles play, Bhattacharya lost to Greg Andrews in straight sets, 6-2, 6-0.

The team will be at Saint Louis this weekend before returning home for the last regular-season match against Cleveland State.

The Butler men’s tennis team travels to take on conference foe Xavier today at 1 p.m.

The Bulldogs (4-6) split their weekend matches, losing to Illinois State before picking up a win against Bradley.

On Friday, Butler lost a 7-0 decision to the Illinois State Redbirds.

Three players had close matches, losing 7-6 and 7-5.

On Saturday, freshman Brandon Woods led the Bulldogs to a victory, picking up the deciding point at No. 5 singles.

Butler lost the doubles point but picked up singles wins from sophomores Austin Woldmoe, Tommy Marx and Billy Weldon.

The women’s team is back in action Sunday against Abilene Christian at home, starting at 10 a.m.

The Bulldogs finished a long week with a 1-2 record.

Butler sandwiched their win over Evansville on Saturday with losses to Middle Tennessee State and Northern Illinois.

Singles winners against Evansville were juniors Stephanie McLoughlin and  Caroline Hedrick and senior Brittany Farmer, all in straight sets.

The Butler women’s tennis team split its weekend matches.

The team picked up its second win of the season with a 4-3 victory over Morehead State.

Junior Stephanie McLoughlin won at the    No. 1 singles position. She was one of four Bulldogs to win singles matches.

Junior Caroline Hedrick and sophomore Sienna Reuter were the only doubles pair to win for the Bulldogs (2-5).

On Sunday, the team dropped its match to Eastern Kentucky 7-0.

Hedrick was the only Bulldog to win a set.

Butler will have its first Atlantic 10 matchup when it takes on Xavier today at home, starting at 3 p.m.

On the men’s side, Iowa swept Butler 7-0 on Saturday.

The loss broke Butler’s three-match winning streak and moved the team to 3-5 on the season.

At No. 1 singles, sophomore Austin Woldmoe was the only Bulldog to win a set.

The team will be back in action Saturday as it takes on Illinois State, starting at 7:30 p.m.

The Butler men’s tennis team was never able to hit full stride last Thursday during its first-round matchup in the Horizon League Championship.

The No. 5-seed Bulldogs suffered a narrow 4-3 loss to No. 4-seed UIC in a match that saw senior Brandon Bayliss’ first conference singles loss of the season.

The Flames started red hot and swept doubles play to begin the match.

But the Bulldogs began to settle their postseason nerves, led by senior Chris Herron’s No. 2 singles victory over senior Luiz Gonzaga, 6-4, 6-0.

Junior Zach Ervin won the No. 3 singles match, 6-1, 6-1, and senior Lenz Theodor picked up the No. 5 singles victory, 7-5, 6-1, to tie the match at three.

In the end, the effort in singles play was not enough to make up for the poor doubles performance and the point lost at the beginning of the day.

The team was back on the courts the following day for the fifth-place consolation match. Butler faced No. 6 Youngstown State, who had lost to No. 3-seed and eventual champions Cleveland State the previous day.

Butler swept doubles play in convincing fashion to start the match. The Bulldogs won the No. 1 and No. 2 matches, making the third inconsequential.

Herron and senior David Dolins won the No. 1 match, 8-5. Bayliss and Theodor won the No. 2 match, 8-3.

Bayliss returned to his old form, picking up a win against junior Tariq Ismail, who had to withdraw from competition during the match.

Two other Butler seniors capped their collegiate careers with 2-0 records in the conference tournament—Herron won 6-2, 6-4, and Theodor won with similar ease, 6-2, 6-2.

Ervin also won in convincing fashion, winning the No. 3 singles match, 6-3, 6-1.

Throughout the season, Butler’s Achilles’ heel had been its inconsistent play during matches and its inability to stay healthy.

Ultimately, this caused their early departure from the conference tournament.

Despite a disappointing finish to the season, Bayliss ends his career as the 2011 Horizon League Player of the Year.

“It’s gratifying,” Bayliss said. “I wasn’t really recruited by any Division I schools except Butler so I wasn’t sure if I would even be able to compete at this level.”

Bayliss ended the season winning nine of his last 10 singles matches. He beat every conference opponent he faced during the regular season.

Looking ahead to next season, the team returns just three players from this year’s roster of nine—Ervin, junior Stephen McLoughlin and freshman Brad DiCarlo.

“They’ve been through a lot of adversity this year,” Bayliss said of the three who will be returning next season. “They’ll know how to lead the talented group of freshmen coming in. I’m excited to see what happens.”

With wins against conference foes Green Bay and Milwaukee, the Butler women’s tennis team is in the midst of its second four-game winning streak of the season.

After defeating the Phoenix (2-11, 1-6 HL) and the Panthers (10-8, 3-4 HL), the Bulldogs (10-6, 3-0 HL) are preparing for a five-game homestand against five league opponents.

On Sunday, Butler traveled to Milwaukee and took five of six singles matches and two of three doubles matches to capture a 6-1 victory.

The win kept the Bulldogs perfect in conference play.

“We’re doing a nice job of finishing sets,” head coach Jason Suscha said. “Early on [in the season], teams would come back against us, but now we’re doing a nice job of closing out.”

Strong singles performances were turned in by senior Gabriela Bobrowski and freshman Caroline Hedrick.

At No. 4 singles, Bobrowski didn’t lose a game to Milwaukee junior Megan Gow, beating her, 6-0, 6-0.

Hedrick, playing at No. 2 singles, nearly shut out her opponent, sophomore Kelly Fritz, winning in straight sets, 6-1, 6-0.

The Bulldogs were victorious in all singles matches except for No. 1 singles, where Milwaukee sophomore Maddy Soule topped Butler senior Natali Jaimes, 6-1, 6-1.

In doubles play, the Bulldogs had the upper hand at both the No. 1 and No. 2 spots.

Freshmen Stephanie McLoughlin and Gabrielle Rubenstein won at No. 1 doubles, defeating Fritz and Sammi Schoen, 8-6.

At No. 2 doubles, Bobrowski and sophomore Brittany Farmer grabbed Butler’s other doubles win, coming out on top versus sophomore Brittany Skemp and freshman Kristin Kurer, 8-4.

On Saturday, the Bulldogs took care of Green Bay, 7-0.

Butler won all but one of the singles matches in straight sets.

McLoughlin and Hedrick were the top performers at singles, losing only one game each to their respective opponents.

The Bulldogs also swept the doubles competition by getting two 8-5 wins and an 8-3 victory.

This Saturday, Butler will open a five-game homestand against Youngstown State.

“We feel good, healthy and confident,” Suscha said. “With a homestand, we put a little more emphasis on being successful and we need to work harder during these times.”