Marquette sophomore Beba Calbeto and junior Francina Bonnelly were forced out of action last Friday against the No. 44 Iowa Hawkeyes in Iowa City. Marquette forfeited two singles matches and a doubles match. Iowa capitalized and captured a 7-0 victory.
As Calbeto sat with a strained groin muscle, Lauren Little moved from her normal No. 2 position to No. 1. She took on No. 21-ranked Meg Racette and pushed the match to three sets before falling 6-0, 6-7 (5), 10-5.
Marquette head coach Jody Bronson was pleased with her freshman.
"Lauren played in a three-set match against one of the best players in the country," Bronson said. "She was in it all the way. That's impressive."
Sophomore Erin Watkins moved up to No. 2 singles,, where she lost to No. 93-ranked Mili Veselinovic in two sets. Watkins is one of the few completely healthy players on the team.
"It's tough when you're trying to compete as best you can, but then certain players can't practice everyday because of various wrist or elbow injuries," Bronson said.
Bronson and assistant Valerie Vladea have begun using different conditioning techniques to combat their players' soreness. On Sunday, they worked out in the pool for much of practice. Looking ahead, they believe everyone will be back within a couple of weeks.
"We're expecting everyone back," Vladea said. "There is nothing that would indicate otherwise, you know, none of the trainers have said anything like" someone could be out for the season.
She also said every team deals with injuries and Marquette played well in Iowa City considering the circumstances.
"Jody and I told them that we thought they stepped it up and competed very hard. You know, we couldn't have asked for anything more out of those girls," Vladea said. "It's hard when you don't have your top lineup out there, but we communicated well in doubles, and had a few girls step it up in singles."
Neither Bonnelly (intestinal virus) nor Calbeto were cleared as of Monday afternoon to play at the Helfaer Tennis Stadium Wednesday night against Illinois-Chicago, Bronson said.