Milwaukee City Wire

The Milwaukee women's tennis team narrowly lost to Youngstown State University (YSU) with a score of 4-3 in a competitive match at River Glen Elite. Head coach Mark Goldin acknowledged the anticipated challenge, stating, "We knew it was going to be a battle."

The Panthers, holding a record of 7-10 overall and 1-2 in the Horizon League, played on their "Senior Day" against YSU, which improved to 5-12 overall and 2-1 in league play. Despite the loss, Goldin expressed optimism for the upcoming conference tournament: "Our confidence going into the conference tournament at the end of the month is even higher now that we have played the top two seeds in our conference."

The decisive moment came after nearly three hours of play when YSU secured victory through a close match at No. 5 singles. Milwaukee initially took the lead by winning doubles matches at No. 3 and No. 1 courts.

Babette Burgersdijk and Iva Stejskalova, both seniors, contributed significantly to Milwaukee's performance. Stejskalova paired with Emilia Durska to win their doubles match 6-2, while Burgersdijk teamed up with Nadiia Konieva for another victory by the same score.

In singles competition, Burgersdijk won her match against Eliska Masarikova in straight sets with scores of 7-6 (7-1), 7-6 (7-5). Laure Razet also added a win for Milwaukee by defeating Lorena Cedeno after coming back from an early deficit.

Goldin praised Razet's resilience: "She was down 3-1 in the third and fought hard every point." He highlighted the strong team atmosphere as a driving force behind their efforts.

Following this closely contested match, Milwaukee will continue its Horizon League campaign by facing Chicago State on Saturday.

Reflecting on Senior Day celebrations for Burgersdijk and Stejskalova, Goldin commented, "It was an awesome senior day...the rest of the season is about sending them off in the right way."

Youngstown State claimed victory through wins in singles matches by Julia Marko, Elinor Beazley, Lili Minich, and Yeseniia Ovcharova.