There really is no place like home.
After an eight-match road streak, and an eight-match losing streak, the Marquette women's tennis team returned home to Helfaer Tennis Stadium Sunday to defeat Conference USA rival Cincinnati, 4-3. The Golden Eagles' record is now 4-13 on the season.
"It was great to have a win," head coach Jody Bronson said. "It's been a long time and we've been struggling against teams that we are capable of beating. It wasn't our best performance, but we played with a lot more drive and a lot more heart."
In doubles play, the duo of freshmen Elsemieke Dokter and Erin Watkins started the morning off right by beating Cincinnati's Jill and Julie Klauck, 8-4 at the No. 2 spot.
However, their efforts were not enough to capture the doubles point for Marquette. The Golden Eagles lost in No.1 and No. 3 doubles.
Sophomore partners Dominika Dabrowski and Francina Bonnelly lost a close battle to Cristina Reyes and Maddy Reasoner, 8-6, at No. 3 doubles. At No. 1, sophomore Callan Smith and freshman Maria Calbeto lost to Sam Liu and Hannah Hinton, 8-6.
"The girls felt very dejected after doubles," Bronson said. "We should have swept the doubles point. But in singles play they saw the court, took the right shots, and were patient. We were in control and we went out and went after the points."
Going into singles play behind, 0-1, Marquette had to pick up the intensity to take the victory from the Bearcats. Bonnelly easily took care of Cincinnati's Julie Klauck in No. 5 singles, winning the match 6-4, 6-2. The rest of the matches all took three sets to declare a winner.
"Each girl lost their first set in singles," Bronson said, "but they didn't fold, they came back, and did everything they could to put themselves in a position to win."
Smith was defeated at No. 1 singles by Reyes, 1-6, 6-3, 6-2. After losing her first set, Dabrowski fought back to win the next two sets, knocking off Reasoner 3-6, 6-2, 6-4, at the No. 6 spot. The match was tied, 2-2, but Calbeto's efforts pushed the Golden Eagles ahead by tallying another point at the No. 2 spot. Calbeto beat Cincinnati's Liu, 4-6, 6-3, 6-3.
"The girls were chasing down balls, taking the right shots, and doing all the little things to put the advantage in our court," Bronson said.
Marquette clinched the victory at No. 4 singles, where Watkins defeated Hinton, 4-6, 6-3, 7-5.
Dokter came up short in No. 3 singles, losing to Jill Klauck, 4-6, 6-3, 6-3.
"The four girls who won in singles did not play their best today," Bronson said, "but they still found a way to win their matches. How we won against Cincinnati was a great feeling."
With only two games left in the regular season, the Marquette squad still needs to play better, step up and take shots and not make bad decisions, according to Coach Bronson.
"We must be patient and learn to grind it out," Bronson said. "Everyone at this level can hit the ball and play the points. It's the person who's out there that can battle the longest that will be successful."
The Golden Eagles will play DePaul Saturday at 11 a.m. at the Helfaer Tennis Stadium.
This article appeared in The Marquette Tribune on April 5 2005.