After losing five consecutive matches, the Michigan men's tennis team suffers from a lack of confidence.

No. 32 Michigan (6-9) saw its season-long losing streak continue as it lost 4-3 to No. 37 North Carolina at Cone-Kenfield Tennis Center in Chapel Hill yesterday.

Michigan jumped out to a quick lead after winning the doubles point but failed to capitalize on the singles matches, losing in the top four singles spots.

“We're losing confidence,” Michigan coach Bruce Berque said. “We're beating ourselves and making unforced errors.”

But Berque was quick to point out that the team has corrected its problems in the doubles matches and wants to have a similar turnaround in singles.

“We were struggling in doubles earlier this year, we made some changes, and are now playing well,” Berque said. “We are looking to do the same thing with singles, making sure we don’t sit back and instead will ourselves to a win.”

Junior George Navas took that philosophy to heart by winning his singles match in straight sets (6-4, 7-5).

“Mentally, I felt good about the match today,” Navas said. “I was putting pressure on my opponent and got a lot of breaks. We just have to gain our confidence in practice and carry it over to the matches.”

Leading up to the North Carolina match, Berque challenged his team to be stingy with mistakes and show toughness.

Despite the advice, some players allowed the demons back into their mental game.

“When you lose consecutive matches, you start to have expectations about things going poorly,” Berque said. “When we get into tight games, the mental doubt is there.”

In a close match, sophomore Chris Madden double-faulted three times against North Carolina junior Andrew Crone and lost 4-6, 6-3, 2-6.

“He let the situation get to him,” Michigan assistant coach Sean Maymi said. “He cares almost too much. He needs to be sharper in the beginning. But we're not overly concerned. He'll be fine.”

In addition to the confidence issue, there is another roadblock.

Maymi said that in addition to the confidence issue, the entire team needs to show consistent effort and get themselves on the same page.

“In a match, we will have a few guys that give in and have others that fight to the end and are tough," Maymi said. "We need everyone to compete hard.”

The Wolverines hope to address these pressing issues and snap their losing streak as the Big Ten season begins next weekend against No. 27 Minnesota.