The women's tennis team hoped to recapture the form that carried them to five consecutive victories just two weeks ago. Louisville had other plans.

The No. 70 Louisville Cardinals defeated Marquette 6-1 Saturday morning in Kentucky. The loss in Marquette's regular-season finale drops the squad to 9-13 (2-5 Big East). Marquette will be a No. 9 seed in the Big East Championships and will play Rutgers in the first round.

"Some of us played well on Saturday, some of us did not," said Marquette head coach Jody Bronson. "We had a chance to win three or four matches and wound up winning only one."

Sophomore Maria Calbeto was the lone victor for Marquette, winning 6-4, 6-2 in No. 1 singles against Maria Klokotzky.

"She fought for every point out there, which is something she always does," Bronson added.

Louisville will take an impressive 21-6 mark into next week's Big East Championships.

"This was an excellent way for us to finish our season," said Louisville head coach Greg Davis. "Marquette is tougher than their record might indicate, so to be able to close out tight matches against a team like that is a strong way to conclude the regular season."

Marquette missed a key opportunity when freshman Laura Little squandered a one-set lead and lost 6-3, 1-6, 4-6 to Robyn White.

Marquette's first-round opponent of the Big East Championships, Rutgers, beat the Golden Eagles 4-3 at Helfaer Tennis Stadium on February 19. Bronson said Rutgers has since regained its No. 3 starter and is better on paper because of it. But she also believes her team is vastly improved since suffering the loss.

"They'll be stronger, but we're definitely a better team than we were mid-February," she said.

They'll need to be when they travel to Tampa, Fla., for the Big East Championships beginning April 20.