Milwaukee City Wire

The Milwaukee women's tennis team is set to embark on a challenging road trip in the Horizon League season, facing two of the top teams from the 2025 league preseason poll. The Panthers will first head to Youngstown State on Saturday. The match, scheduled to start at 10 a.m. CT at the YSU Indoor Tennis Center, sees the Penguins ranked No. 2 in the preseason poll and having reached the conference postseason title match eight times in the past decade.

On Sunday, Milwaukee will travel to Cleveland State to face the No. 1 team from the 2025 league poll, with the match beginning at 9 a.m. CT at the Medical Mutual Tennis Pavilion. The Vikings finished as the runner-up at the Horizon League Championships last season after a 5-1 record in conference matches.

Milwaukee currently holds a 6-11 overall record, starting the conference play with an 0-1 slate following a narrow 4-3 defeat to Oakland.

In scouting the opposition, Youngstown State is under the guidance of twelfth-year head coach Mickael Sopel, a recipient of the 2023 Horizon League Coach of the Year award. The Penguins have claimed seven league postseason titles and made seven NCAA Championship appearances. Currently, the team sits at 7-7 this spring, having recently lost three matches in a row including a 4-3 defeat to Cleveland State. Key players include Julia Marko and Lorena Cedeno in singles, and Ghada Dirninger in doubles.

Cleveland State, led by seventh-year coach Frank Polito, has begun their season with a 7-9 overall record. The Vikings have won three consecutive matches and started 1-0 in conference play with a recent win over Youngstown State. Notable players include singles competitors Sima Heren and Tereze Vevere, with the doubles team of Vevere and Ella Franz posting a strong record.

Highlighting individual performances for Milwaukee, Nikola Nikolajeva has delivered impressive matches, including a comeback victory against Western Illinois and a decisive win against Whitewater, which earned her Horizon League Singles Player of the Week honors.

Additionally, Milwaukee's encounter with Marquette marked a historical victory, as the Panthers secured their first win against their city rivals.

The team's roster includes returners such as Nadiia Konieva, a player with a strong singles and doubles record, and three freshmen. The upcoming matches in Ohio will precede more road fixtures against DePaul and Chicago State on April 11 and 12.