Since the volleyball team was already guaranteed a spot in the Big East tournament next weekend in Louisville, the only thing left to figure out was its seeding and opponent.
Two wins could have equaled a higher seed while two losses might have meant a meeting with top seed Notre Dame. After a split, the Golden Eagles find themselves in seventh place and meeting up with a familiar opponent.
The familiar opponent is No. 7 Louisville, which shares the conference title with Notre Dame. The game will be a slightly painful walk down memory lane for a Marquette team that lost to Louisville in the Conference USA tournament finals last season and was defeated 3-1 by the Cardinals this weekend. But the team is optimistic about its chances against the co-Big East regular season champions.
"Playing them this soon is a big plus," said head coach Pati Rolf. "We had a pretty good match (against Louisville Saturday) and learned a lot. There are no unknowns, we can cut tapes down further and focus on the things to improve for the weekend."
The familiarity the team has with Louisville will be something the team will call on for next weekend's match.
"We learned how they actually play, which well help us for next week," said outside hitter Jamie Mueller.
Marquette lost the first two games and had to win the third game to avoid a sweep. The Golden Eagles fought off a surging Louisville team that tied them at 28, to take a 30-28 win. Although the Cardinals took the next game, and the match, Marquette's resolve after going into a 0-2 hole helped the players maintain confidence in the team.
"I think our team has been playing with more energy and heart," Mueller said. "We are feeling each other out and we have a lot of trust in each other."
The game three win against Louisville, as well as a next-day sweep of Cincinnati, gives Marquette the belief that it can beat Louisville in the conference tournament.
"If you can win a game then you can win a match, and we can build on that for this weekend," Rolf said. "It was important to dominate against Cincinnati to carry into this weekend."
In the match the Golden Eagles were led by junior outside hitter Jamie Mueller's 23 kills and sophomore outside hitter Kim Todd's 15. Todd also led the team in digs with 10 and junior setter Katie Weidner recorded 30 assists.
Louisville rode its 42.7 percent hitting percentage in the match while the Golden Eagles hit at 17.7 percent. The Cardinals also dominated net play, out-blocking Marquette 16-4.
"We need to put up a bigger block," Mueller said. "We left a lot of holes and we will need to watch film to watch where we have to start hitting and getting better shots around their block."
Closing out the season on Sunday, the team traveled to Cincinnati to take on the Bearcats.
Cincinnati came in ahead of the Golden Eagles in the conference standings, but Marquette played the role of superior team, recording a 3-0 victory.
Sunday's win was a total team effort with three players recording double-digit kills and three players recording double-digit digs.
"These past couple of weeks, the whole team has been in every game where every person has had to be relied on," Mueller said. "We looked like one unit on the floor."
The dominance of the Golden Eagles in the victory resulted in hitting at 31.5 percent while the team held Cincinnati to a hitting percentage of 8.3. The Golden Eagles outplayed Cincinnati at the net, recording nine blocks to the Bearcats' 6.5.
The team participation gave the Golden Eagles a 16-11 record and 8-6 conference record for their inagural season in the Big East.