Milwaukee City Wire

The Milwaukee women's tennis team secured a 5-2 victory over Northern Kentucky on Saturday at the Five Seasons Sports Club. The Panthers demonstrated strong performance in doubles play, which set the tone for their singles matches.

"We came out strong in doubles with amazing energy," head coach Mark Goldin stated. Despite Northern Kentucky's initial success in singles, winning the first set on courts one through four, Milwaukee managed to turn the situation around. "We didn't get down on ourselves after losing the first sets at 1-4, instead we fought even harder," Goldin added.

In doubles, Sara Simonova and Laure Razet defeated Angela Rinaldi and Didi Steenhuis 6-1 at No. 2. Iva Stejskalova and Emilia Durska mirrored this result against Ashlee Fisk and Catharina Cardosa at No. 3, propelling the Panthers to an early lead.

Milwaukee continued their momentum in singles play with Emilia Durska defeating Catharina Cardosa 6-2, 6-1 at No. 5, while Evelina Anastasi overcame Didi Steenhuis with a score of 6-1, 6-1 at No. 6.

Babette Burgersdijk faced a challenging match against Ashlee Fisk at No. 1 but played a crucial role despite her loss. "Babs shifted the momentum of the match for the team when she came back from down a set and 2-4 to win the second," Goldin remarked.

Nadiia Konieva achieved a significant comeback win against Darya Gneydina with scores of 4-6, 7-6 (10-8), and 10-6 at No. 2. Sara Simonova clinched the overall team victory by defeating Mariajose Hernandez after dropping her first set.

"Our girls have been doing training on mental toughness all week and it paid off today," Goldin said, expressing pride in his team's resilience and adjustments from previous matches.

The Panthers will conclude their regular season against IUPUI on Sunday morning.