The Marquette women's tennis team was unable to build off its win last week over Cincinnati and lost to DePaul, 7-0, Saturday at the Helfaer Tennis Stadium.
"We didn't take advantage of the opportunities given to us," head coach Jody Bronson said. "We didn't battle long enough to win."
The 4-14 Marquette squad started well in doubles but lost its momentum and was swept by the Blue Demons.
"We were ahead for awhile in doubles," sophomore Francina Bonnelly said. "When the time came to close the match, we couldn't do it. We didn't step it up at the important moments."
Sophomore Callan Smith and freshman Maria Calbeto were defeated in No. 1 doubles by DePaul's Beatrix Csordas and Marina Parashkevova, 8-4. At the No. 2 spot the freshmen duo of Erin Watkins and Elsemieke Dokter were taken down by Gergana Ganeva and Petra Rehusova, 8-5. Bonnelly and sophomore Andrea Bukacek were beaten in No. 3 doubles by Anja Mihaldinec and Bojana Murisic, who captured the victory in a tiebreak, 9-8 (3).
"We had good strategy in doubles," Bronson said. "When we followed through on our shots and made the right plays, we scored points. But as soon as we started making bad decisions, the gap between the scores became wider and wider."
The Golden Eagles entered singles play behind, 0-1, and were overwhelmed in the top three singles matches. Smith was knocked off by Csordas in No. 1 singles, 6-4, 6-1. At the No. 2 spot, Calbeto was defeated by Parashkevova, 6-1, 6-0. Dokter was beaten by Ganeva, 6-2, 6-0, in No. 3 singles.
Watkins took DePaul's Rehusova to three sets in No. 4 singles but was unable to clinch the victory. She lost the first set, 6-3, battled back in the second winning, 4-6, and then lost the tiebreak, 10-4.
"Erin should have won her match," Bronson said. "She stopped playing to win and started playing not to lose."
In No. 5 singles, Bonnelly dropped a first set tiebreak, 7-6 (5), before capitulating easily in the second, and losing. 6-2, to DePaul's Brenda Leung.
"I was up in the first set," Bonnelly said. "Then (Leung) started playing better, and I let her gain confidence."
In No. 6 singles, DePaul's Murisic swept Bukacek, 6-0, 6-0.
"Our team really needs to play like we practice," Bonnelly said. "We just need to do the things on the court that we work on everyday."
According to Bronson, the road to success for the Golden Eagles is a three-step program that unfortunately, is easier said than done.
"All the girls need to do when they're out on the court is play to win, make good decisions and constantly be in the battle."
Marquette plays its last home meet of the season Thursday against Wisconsin-Green Bay at 4:30 p.m.
This article appeared in The Marquette Tribune on April 12 2005.