Two games down against the No. 2 seed in the Big East tournament would be enough for most teams to mail it in and gather their belongings to go home.

That was not the case for the Golden Eagles when they played Louisville on Friday and pushed the Cardinals to four games before eventually dropping the match.

It was not a victory; it was not even a two-game win for the Golden Eagles, but nonetheless, the team did not pack it in when staring at elimination.

"I thought it was a good weekend for us," said head coach Pati Rolf. "We had some issues with handling the ball against Louisville and we coudn't deal with that."

The Cardinals dominated from the outset of game one when they scored the first six points of the game. Louisville built the advantage to 17 points and wound up winning the first game 30-13.

In the second game Louisville ended up with the 30-18 victory thanks to 10 kills by Louisville middle blocker and Big East Player-of-the-Year Lena Ustymenko. The Golden Eagles faced a 2-0 deficit, but elimination was not something they subscribed to in the third game.

Rolf credited seniors Theresa Coughlin and Caitie O'Brien with helping the team through the match.

"Even though the numbers don't show it, the game Caitie and Theresa had in terms of the energy they brought to the court and their demeanor on the court was outstanding," Rolf said.

Game three saw the two teams trade points back and forth through the majority of the match and Marquette eventually closed out Louisville with a 30-24 victory.

After taking a 10-6 lead in the fourth game, the Golden Eagles could not overcome a 12-point Louisville run. Marquette made a mini-run, but Louisville closed things out to earn the fourth and decisive game 30-19.

Four Golden Eagle players finished with double-digit kills, providing Marquette was a balanced attack. Sophomore outside hitter Kim Todd led the team with 15 kills. Junior outside hitter Jamie Mueller finished the game with 10 kills and 11 digs. The Golden Eagles also registered seven blocks versus Louisville, but it was not enough to beat the seventh-ranked team in the country.

The Cardinals were led by Ustymenko, who had 20 kills, and outside hitter Ana Yartseva, who tallied 13 digs. In total Louisville had 19 total kills. Louisville enjoyed a hitting percentage of 38 percent compared to Marquette's six percent in the match.

Ustymenko left her mark on the match and showed why she was named Big East Player of the Year.

"Lena played like the player of the conference," Rolf said. "I thought we could have forced them to a fourth game but Lena just took over and jump-served for them where she got 10 straight points."

The Golden Eagles close out their season this weekend in the Battle for the Bird versus Western Michigan and Valparaiso.