The Milwaukee women’s tennis team faced a challenging match against St. Thomas on Saturday afternoon, ultimately losing 4-1 at River Glen Elite. The Panthers, now with a record of 4-5, encountered a Tommies team that was in strong form, having secured their third win in two days during their road trip.
St. Thomas gained an early advantage by securing the doubles point, which provided them momentum heading into singles matches. “It definitely gave them momentum going into singles and gave them some confidence,” said Milwaukee head coach Mark Goldin. He acknowledged the strong performance of St. Thomas: “St. Thomas definitely played some good tennis today and are coming off their third match in two days here in Milwaukee [they also beat Bradley and Marquette]. They were in rhythm, were confident, and earned everything.”
Milwaukee’s Honoka Yamashita quickly tied the score by defeating Ingrid Forsberg 6-1, 6-1 at No. 6 singles. However, St. Thomas clinched victories at No. 1 and No. 5 positions to lead 3-1 before sealing the overall win with a close victory at No. 2.
Emilia Durska nearly added another point for Milwaukee but her match was halted when St. Thomas secured the decisive point elsewhere on the court.
Coach Goldin expressed pride in his team’s effort despite the loss: “It wasn’t a matter of effort on our side,” he said. “I felt like they played as hard as they could for each other, for the fans watching, for me … and I am proud of them for that.” Looking ahead to future matches, he noted that with improved health and coordination among players, his team could become more competitive.
Next up for Milwaukee is a match against Northwestern in Illinois scheduled to start at 4 p.m., with live streaming available through nusports.com.
