Milwaukee City Wire

The Milwaukee women's tennis team is preparing for two upcoming Horizon League matches at home this weekend. After a successful start with a 1-0 record following their victory over Oakland, the Panthers aim to improve to 2-0 for only the second time in eight seasons. The matches will take place against Cleveland State on Saturday and Youngstown State on Sunday, both scheduled to begin at 1 p.m. at River Glen Elite.

Milwaukee's current overall record stands at 7-8, and they hold all-time records of 16-23 against Cleveland State and 8-21 against Youngstown State. "MKE holds all-time records of 16-23 against Cleveland State and 8-21 against Youngstown State." The Panthers have had recent success against the Vikings but have struggled in past encounters with the Penguins.

Cleveland State, led by sixth-year head coach Frank Polito, has an overall record of 9-8 this season. "Throughout Polito's tenure with the Vikings, he has helped guide Cleveland State to four regular-season Horizon League titles (2016, 2017, 2019 & 2022), seven semifinal appearances, and two championship match appearances at the Horizon League Tournament." The team is coming off a strong performance last season but narrowly missed out on a championship.

Youngstown State is coached by Mickael Sopel, who has been recognized as the Horizon League Coach of the Year in 2023. Under his leadership, "the Penguins have reached the conference postseason title match eight times in ten years." Despite their recent struggles this spring with a record of 3-12, they remain a formidable opponent.

The Panthers recently faced Georgia Gwinnett College on March 21. Although they lost the doubles point, there were standout performances from Nadiia Konieva and Babette Burgersdijk in doubles play as well as Evelina Anastasi in singles.

Nadiia Konieva continues to excel this season with a singles record of 15-5. In doubles competition, Iva Stejskalova leads with fifteen wins while teaming up successfully with Emilia Durska.

Milwaukee swept several awards earlier this year when Sara Simonova was named Horizon League Singles Player of the Week alongside her partner Babette Burgersdijk as Doubles Team of the Week.

First-year head coach Mark Goldin remains optimistic about building upon last year's achievements after reaching semifinals during his inaugural season leading MKE Tennis: "Hopes remain high this spring for first-year head coach Mark Goldin after reaching semifinals."

Looking ahead beyond these home games against CSU & YSU respectively; next week brings another challenge when traveling Illinois where they'll face Chicago State Saturday noon start time awaits them then too!