CHICAGO -- The University of North Dakota women's tennis team dropped a tough, 4-3 decision to Chicago State on Saturday afternoon from the Windy City to close out a pair of matches. 

UND (4-8) jumped out to an early 3-0 lead, but the Cougars battled back with four straight victories on the singles courts to complete the comeback and steal a win away from the Fighting Hawks. 

"We are at that gut-check point of our season," said UND head coach Tom Boysen. "We scheduled a lot of very good teams to prepare us for our conference season, and I believe that it will pay off, but it only matters if we are willing to learn from our mistakes, if we are willing to attempt the things in matches that we work on and talk about in practice and if we are willing to commit to the process. So far this season, we haven't done that in several matches and need to own up to it." 

North Dakota grabbed the 1-0 lead in doubles play with a pair of 6-3 wins by the top-two courts. The duo of Sapir Sela and Andrea Jansson started it off at the No. 1 spot before Nyah Kauders and Nore Heinitz followed suit from the second position to put the Hawks in front heading to singles action. 

Sela stretched the lead to 2-0 early in singles play, moving back to the No. 2 court and rolling to a 6-2, 6-0 score while Jule Schulte put the visitors in a clinching position with a 6-2, 6-3 triumph at the fifth spot to increase the advantage to 3-0. 

Chicago State started to rally, however, cutting the lead to 3-2 with a pair of two-set wins at the No. 6 and 3 spots before completing the comeback with back-to-back victories in three sets from the top and fourth courts to steal the match by a 4-3 score. 

"These players are tough, determined and driven to succeed," said Boysen. "I know what this year's team is capable of still achieving, and I 100 percent trust that they will do the work."

North Dakota returns home to begin Summit League play against South Dakota at 10 a.m. on Sunday from Choice Health and Fitness in Grand Forks.