After a disappointing showing at the Bronco Invitational, the Golden Eagles rebounded at the 30th Annual Milwaukee Tennis Classic last weekend. The women went 2-1 in both singles and doubles action.

Marquette defeated Dayton 6-1 in singles on Friday and lost 2-1 to Illinois State in doubles. On Saturday, the Golden Eagles lost 5-1 in singles against ISU and swept doubles 3-0 against Wisconsin-Green Bay. After a disappointing display in Saturday's singles action, they responded by winning 4-2 over Green Bay Sunday. Later in the day, they handled Dayton with three decisive doubles victories.

"I think it's going better than last year," said sophomore Maria Calbeto. "I think it could be a great year."

The Golden Eagles finished their spring season 5-15 last year without individual or team appearances in postseason play.

Calbeto won No. 1 singles Friday morning 7-5, 6-4 versus Dayton's Allysa Detroy.

Sophomore Erin Watkins, junior Francina Bonnelly, junior Dominika Dabrowski, freshman Lisa Nguyen and junior Andrea Bukacek followed up with wins. Dayton's Megan Gray won No. 6 singles 6-0, 6-1 against junior Katie Donovan.

"Friday we looked a lot better on little stuff," Watkins said. "It seemed like we were beginning to figure out what does and doesn't work for us."

Marquette won No. 1 doubles Friday (Calbeto and Bonnelly beat Katri Miller and Michelle Rabinovich) over Illinois State 9-7. However, the Eagles lost their No. 2 and 3 matches. At No. 2, Watkins and Dabrowski lost 8-6 to Veronique Parke-Bedard and Ashley Maxwell. ISU's Carolyne Parent and Nicole Schneider won the rubber match 8-4 against Bukacek and Nguyen.

Illinois State dominated Marquette Saturday morning outside at the Western Racquet Club, winning singles 5-1. Calbeto, Bonnelly, Dabrowski, Nguyen and Bukacek all lost. Of those five matches, only Calbeto won a set. Watkins defeated Ashley Maxwell 6-0, 6-3 at No. 2.

Marquette head coach Jody Bronson was disappointed with the squad's level of intensity.

"Friday singles was good — not great, but good. Unfortunately it didn't seem to build as the weekend went on," she said.

Marquette swept doubles action against UW-Green Bay Saturday afternoon. Calbeto and Bonnelly beat Heather Harding and Ashley Jurgella 8-1 at No. 1. Watkins and Dabrowski took No. 2 over Jenny Tan and Amy Messiner 8-3. Bukacek and Nguyen defeated Megan Gregory and Kristin Leeder 8-3 in the final match.

The tournament used hidden-dual format, meaning everyone faces one team in singles and a different team in doubles on each of the three days.

The squad took four of six singles matches against UW-Green Bay Sunday morning, as competition moved to the Western Racquet Club's indoor facilities due to rainy weather. Calbeto, Watkins and Bonnelly won at numbers 1, 2 and 3, respectively.

Bonnelly defeated Gregory 6-1, 6-0. Nguyen beat Leeder 6-1, 6-2 at No. 5. Jurgella handled Dabrowski 6-1, 6-0 at No. 4 while Messiner beat Bukacek 6-1, 6-1 for UW-Green Bay's two wins.

The Eagles finished off the weekend with a doubles sweep over Dayton.

The pairings of Calbeto and Bonnelly, Watkins and Dabrowski and Nguyen and Bukacek won at numbers 1, 2 and 3. Despite Sunday's team victories in singles and doubles to make it a winning weekend, Bronson was dissatisfied.

"There are certain expectations we put on ourselves when we compete, and we didn't meet those Sunday," she said.

The team heads to Ann Arbor, Mich. Friday for the three-day Wolverine Invitational.

This article was published in The Marquette Tribune on September 27, 2005.