For the second year the Marquette women’s tennis team (17-9 in the dual season) will enter the Big East Championship tournament as the No. 5 seed.

And after a close loss to No. 4 Syracuse (4-3) last year, the Golden Eagles enter the tournament excited and prepared for every match, senior Christina Ruiz said.

In 2008 and 2009 the team placed 5th in the 12-team field.

“A lot of it is just believing in ourselves,” coach Jody Bronson said in regards to how the team can continue its regular season momentum in the postseason. “Being confident.”

The team starts its competition today in South Bend, Ind., and Marquette could play through Sunday if it wins out, or it could be done today with a loss.  The question is whether the weather will cause a problem with the outdoor tournament.

Changing courts in the middle of a match due to weather can be helpful or a hindrance depending on the situation, Ruiz said.

The Golden Eagles face the 12th-seeded Connecticut Huskies in their first match. Unlike in the regular season where all matches are played, the tournament atmosphere awards the first team to four points with the victory.  If Marquette is the first to four points against Connecticut, then fourth-seeded Louisville awaits in the next round.

The Golden Eagles are familiar with the Huskies, as the two teams met on April 8 with Marquette winning 6-1 in Storrs, Conn.

As of now they are focused on Connecticut and trying not to worry about Louisville, Bronson said.

The team’s consistency in doubles has added to its success, and it will be even more important now.

The team finished the regular season with 74 doubles wins and 34 losses. Of those victories 22 were secured at the No. 1 position from experienced senior pair Ruiz and Rachael Hush.

“Winning the doubles is huge,” Bronson said. “But I think our focus just needs to be on what our strengths are right now.”

The team met eight of the 12 conference teams during regular season matches, finishing .500 (4-4).

Marquette faced Notre Dame April 17 in its final regular season match and was defeated 6-1. The Fighting Irish are seeded No. 1 in the conference.

If faced with the opportunity of a rematch against the Irish, the team is confident that it knows how to play the conference rival by staying “mentally tough” and changing up the strategies, Hush said.

Nine of the women’s 26 games during the spring season were won or lost by one point, all of which came down to singles matches. Five of those nine were victories and the Golden Eagles won the doubles point in every one.

Of the four one-point defeats the Golden Eagles went 2-2 in doubles play causing singles games to be the deciding factor.

The team has come out of some tight situations to pull off a tough win, Bronson said.

Success in both doubles and singles will contribute to the outcome of the week’s matches.

“I think we can all just go out there and expect every match to be tough,” Hush said. “It is every year.”