While the Marquette women's tennis team traveled to Texas and Florida last week, its spring break was not spent touring The Alamo or tanning on sunny beaches. The 3-14 Golden Eagles lost all four of their games over the break, extending their losing streak to seven.
"Our overall performance has been disappointing," head coach Jody Bronson said. "We've been given the opportunities and haven't taken advantage of them. The matchups were good last week, and we had some individuals win here and there. But together as a team, it's been disappointing."
Marquette fell to Southern Methodist, 6-1, March 22. The Mustangs swept the doubles point to begin the afternoon.
Sophomore Callan Smith and freshman Maria Calbeto were knocked off by Svetlana Kouzmenko and Lynsie Jones at No. 1, 8-6. The No. 2 duo of freshman Erin Watkins and sophomore Dominika Dabrowski were defeated by Jenny Langer and Allison Leuszler, 8-3.
The only Golden Eagle to have any success was Calbeto, beating SMU's Jennifer Chay at No. 2 singles, 6-3, 6-2.
"Maria wants to win," Bronson said. "She's intense, works hard and is aggressive. She's doing the things that we want her to do and that's all we're asking."
Two days later Marquette fell to Texas-Arlington, 6-1. The duo of Andrea Bukacek and Elsemieke Dokter defeated UTA's Gretel Hach and Jessica Shepard at No. 3 doubles, 8-6. However, their effort was not enough to capture the doubles point for Marquette.
"During this trip, we have not been out-talented," Bronson said. "One team would just step it up in doubles and then two wouldn't."
Calbeto was once again the sole winner for Marquette in singles play, winning at the No. 2 spot against Daniela Novakova 6-4, 6-1.
"In individual matches, we make bad decisions," Bronson said. "We aren't patient enough, and we need to work harder and longer each match."
The Golden Eagles' woes continued in Florida, where they fell to Central Florida, 6-1, Tuesday and to South Florida, 6-1, Wednesday.
The No. 1 duo of Calbeto and Smith won in doubles over Pamela Fernandez and Becky Gordon, 8-4, but the other two Marquette doubles teams failed to build on the win.
In singles play, Smith and Calbeto both lost in straight sets.
Dokter tallied the sole singles point when she defeated Ola Luczak at No. 3 in three topsy-turvy sets, 7-6, 0-6 (14-12).
"Else barely won the first, badly lost the second and then really fought to win the third," Bronson said. "She was intense and determined throughout the match."
Marquette's sole point against South Florida Wednesday occurred in No. 6 singles on a default due to an injury.
This article appeared in The Marquette Tribune on March 31 2005.