A 6-1 loss might not sound like cause for optimism, but the men's tennis team (11-12) is confident heading into today's opening round match of the Conference USA tournament in Louisville against South Florida (8-14), to whom they lost by that score two weeks ago.

Rodecap said after that loss he felt that the match was much closer than the final score indicated, and he did not change that opinion earlier this week.

"We were in that match, I felt like we competed well that day," he said.

Marquette — the tournament's 11th seed — swept South Florida in doubles in the April 1 match and lost three singles matches in three sets.

Victories in all three of those matches would have given the Golden Eagles a crucial win over South Florida — the sixth-seeded team in the tournament.

The familiarity factor between the two teams will help, according to freshman Pete Van Lieshout.

"It makes a big difference," he said. "Last time, there were a lot of close matches that could have gone either way."

"I feel like we have a good feel for their personnel," Rodecap said. "When you play a team for a second time, you have a little bit more first-hand knowledge. We know most of their guys now."

Still, a victory over South Florida would be a fairly big upset. The team nearly snapped No. 1 Baylor's 48 match winning streak last week, but lost 4-3.

"We know that they're a talented team and they can beat anyone on any given day," Rodecap said. "They're coached well so we know we have to play at a high level to put ourselves in the position to get an upset."

Van Lieshout is anticipating a hard fought match similar to the last match between the two teams.

"I think if we win, it's going to be something like 4-3," he said. "It's going to be a battle."

South Florida may also have some history on their side. South Florida is tied with Tulane for most C-USA tournament championships won, with four.

On the other hand, Marquette has not won an opening round game of the conference tournament since a 4-0 win over Memphis in 1998.

Tulane, the 19th ranked team in the country, is the top seeded team in the tournament. No. 42 TCU is the second seed, while No. 34 Louisville is the third seed. No. 74 Memphis rounds out the top four seeds.

The Golden Eagles, should they defeat South Florida, would play Memphis Friday afternoon. If Marquette loses, it will play the loser of DePaul-East Carolina Friday at noon.

This article appeared in The Marquette Tribune on April 21 2005.