The Milwaukee Panthers women’s tennis team will travel this weekend for matches against Northern Iowa and Western Illinois. After a recent series of home games, the Panthers are set to play at the Black Hawk Tennis Center in Waterloo, Iowa, on Friday at 11 a.m., followed by a Saturday morning match at 9:30 a.m. against Western Illinois at the WIU Tennis Facility in Macomb, Illinois.
Milwaukee and Northern Iowa have maintained regular competition since the 2004-05 season. Northern Iowa currently leads their series 13-9, having won their last meeting 4-3. Prior to that result, Milwaukee had achieved five wins out of six encounters dating back to 2019. Chris Sagers has led Northern Iowa as head coach since 2014. The UNI team concluded last season with a record of 7-15 overall and is currently 1-8 this spring after losing seven consecutive matches.
Western Illinois finished last season with a significant improvement over previous years, ending with a record of 12-9 overall and going 5-1 in conference play. This spring, they have started with two wins and eight losses. The Panthers hold an all-time record of 11-3 against Western Illinois and have won ten straight matches before last season’s close contest.
Last week, Milwaukee split its results by defeating UIC for only the second time in program history but then lost narrowly to St. Thomas. Nel Van Hout secured the decisive point against UIC at No. 2 singles, extending her singles win streak to eight before it was later snapped.
Van Hout was named Horizon League Singles Player of the Week on February 18 after remaining undefeated that week in singles play and improving her season record to 13-1 in singles matches. The doubles team of Nadiia Konieva and Sara Simonova also received Horizon League Doubles Team of the Week honors for their performances over Marquette and University of Chicago.
The current roster includes players from eight countries: seven returning athletes, one sophomore transfer, and one freshman. Nadiia Konieva leads among returners after being named All-Horizon League Second Team last year while leading doubles victories for Milwaukee.
Third-year head coach Mark Goldin guided his team through injuries last year to an overall mark of 8-17, including a notable postseason win over Oakland in the Horizon League Championships before falling in the semifinals.
Milwaukee completed its fall campaign with cumulative records of 24-15 as a team in singles action and an 18-9 mark in doubles play across several tournaments including the Gopher Invitational and Warhawk Fall Invite.
The Panthers are part of NCAA Division I athletics as members of both the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee’s athletics program and the Horizon League official website. They compete in dual matches and seasonal tournaments while supporting student-athletes’ academic balance official website.
After this road trip, Milwaukee will return home next weekend for matches against Whitewater on Friday (3 p.m.) and Bradley on Saturday (11 a.m.).
