The Milwaukee Panthers women’s tennis team will return to home competition this Friday, hosting Whitewater at River Glen Elite. The match is scheduled for a 3 p.m. start. A previously planned Saturday contest against Bradley has been cancelled and will not be rescheduled.
River Glen Elite, located at 2001 Good Hope Road in Milwaukee, serves as the home venue for the Panthers. Admission to the match is free.
Milwaukee holds a 14-6 all-time advantage over Whitewater in their series history. The Warhawks won the first six meetings starting in 1990, but since an 8-1 Milwaukee victory in 2006, the Panthers have won each of the last 14 encounters. This includes consecutive 7-0 wins in both 2022 and 2023, a 6-1 result in 2024, and another shutout last year.
Whitewater’s program competes at NCAA Division III and has claimed the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference title for the past eighteen seasons. Last season, they finished with a record of 14-9 overall and went 5-1 in conference duals. Frank Barnes retired as head coach after twenty-three years in May of last year; Byron Balkin was named his successor. Balkin graduated from UW-Whitewater in 2014 and previously served as head coach at Hampden-Sydney College from 2018 to 2025 before returning to Whitewater.
Last week, Milwaukee split its matches—defeating Northern Iowa by a score of 5-2 before falling to Western Illinois by that same margin. Nadiia Konieva and Sara Simonova secured victories in both singles and doubles play against UNI, while Emilia Durska clinched her singles match at No.3 position.
An injury during doubles play left Milwaukee shorthanded against Western Illinois on Saturday.
Nel Van Hout was recognized as Horizon League Singles Player of the Week on February 18 after extending her singles win streak to eight matches before it ended later that month. She defeated Marquette’s top player and then overcame an opponent from second-ranked University of Chicago; she now holds a season record of fifteen wins and three losses in singles matches.
Konieva and Simonova were also honored as Horizon League Doubles Team of the Week on February 18—their third career recognition but first together as partners—after posting back-to-back wins over Marquette and UChicago.
The current roster features players from eight countries: seven returners, one sophomore transfer, and one freshman. Konieva leads among returners after earning All-Horizon League Second Team honors last season while leading Milwaukee with sixteen doubles victories.
Durska finished last season tied for most total victories (26), including fourteen singles wins; Nikola Nikolajeva matched that total with twelve singles wins plus fourteen doubles victories despite missing time due to injury late in spring.
Head coach Mark Goldin is now in his third year leading Milwaukee following previous coaching experience at Cardinal Stritch University and work within local tennis organizations. Goldin served as an assistant with Milwaukee between 2009–2012 before being named head coach ahead of the fall campaign two years ago.
Last fall saw strong results for Milwaukee across several tournaments—including Gopher Invitational, Warhawk Fall Invite, and Horizon League Individual Championships—with Nel Van Hout leading individual performances by combining for eighteen victories (eight singles). As a team during fall competition, Milwaukee posted records of twenty-four wins versus fifteen losses in singles action along with eighteen doubles wins against nine defeats.
At home over recent seasons, Milwaukee has achieved thirty-three wins compared to twenty losses since late 2018—including ten home victories during the calendar year ending December 2021.
Following Friday’s contest against Whitewater—which marks just their second appearance this spring—the Panthers will have an eight-day break before opening Horizon League play on March 14 when they travel to face Oakland University.
The Milwaukee Panthers Women’s Tennis Team participates regularly in dual matches and seasonal tournaments under NCAA Division I guidelines while representing Panther athletics at University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. The program aims to support student-athletes’ balance between academics and sports commitments.
