The optimism that had blossomed earlier yesterday at the Tennis Center at College Park faded as senior Lisa Miller sat down after losing a first set tiebreak to No. 50 Wake Forest’s Sasha Kulikova at No. 2 singles.

Miller had ridden the momentum from her doubles victory to an early lead in singles play. But after the tiebreak loss, any energy stemming from previous victory was crushed.

It was a fitting turning point in a day of decisive tiebreak losses for the Terps, who also suffered crushing first set losses in No. 5 and No. 6 singles that ultimately sank their hopes of their first ACC win.

Again, the Terps were denied a breakthrough by the Demon Deacons (10-13, 4-7, ACC), wrapping up their conference slate with as many losses as matches with a 5-2 defeat.

“A 5-2 overall scoreline is not terribly flattering,” said coach Howard Joffe, whose Terps finished 0-11 in league action. “But if we take those tiebreaks after winning the doubles point, it would have put tremendous stress on [Wake Forest]. It’s a little bit of a killer.”

Miller and fellow senior Maggie MacKeever clinched the doubles point in a back-and-forth battle at the No. 1 slot on their Senior Day. They took down Kulikova and Emilee Malvehy, 8-6.

Only Jordan Hansbrough managed t translated the early momentum to a victory of her own, winning a point at No. 4 singles against the Demon Deacons.

“The end was disappointing today, yet we got ourselves in a situation where things got interesting,” Joffe said. “Today was actually one of the best days for us.”

The Terps (5-13, 0-11) finished the regular season winless in the ACC for the second time in three seasons, also falling to No. 37 N.C. State on Friday, 6-1.

Hansbrough, who won all three of her matches at No. 4 singles this weekend, took the lone point against the Wolfpack (11-9, 3-7). Her win Friday broke a run of seven consecutive shutouts in conference matches for the Terps.

The Terps also took care of unranked Richmond (5-11, 3-1 Atlantic 10), 6-1, on Saturday. The Terps improved to 5-2 in nonconference play with the win.

“This gave us some useful experience, especially the younger girls,” Joffe said after yesterday’s match. “It’s never nice to lose, but [today] was encouraging.”

The rigors of ACC play also proved to be too much for the Terrapin men’s tennis team, as it fell yesterday to No. 23 Wake Forest and Friday to No. 50 N.C. State.

The Terps (13-12, 1-10) proved to be a tough out, taking the Demon Deacons (13-8, 7-4) to three sets in three separate singles matches. Wake Forest won all three matches, however, en route to a 6-1 victory.

“Our inability to win three-set matches has really hurt us all season,” said coach Kyle Spencer, whose squad also lost to the Wolfpack 4-3 on Friday. “It was the difference in the match again today.

“Dropping close matches also really hurt us against N.C. State. We’re bitterly disappointed.”

cwalsh@umdbk.com