Milwaukee City Wire

The Milwaukee Panthers women's tennis team competed at the second annual Horizon League Individual Championships over the weekend in Youngstown, Ohio. The event took place at the YSU Tennis Center and included all six programs from the league.

The tournament featured a 32-player singles draw and a 16-team doubles draw. Competition began with two rounds of singles and one round of doubles on Friday and Saturday, with finals held on Sunday.

Milwaukee’s duo Emilia Durska and Nel Van Hout advanced to the championship final in doubles before being defeated by Line Greyling and Yeseniia Ovcharova from Youngstown State, 8-6. The pair had led during parts of the match but could not hold off their opponents in the end.

"The Panthers had a great weekend in Youngstown," head coach Mark Goldin said. "This is a special team this year, we have a ton of talent, and the team chemistry is off to a great start. They are fighting hard to win for each other and the team. This is the type of team culture that will lead to great success."

In singles play, Nikola Nikolajeva and Nel Van Hout both recorded 3-1 records, reaching the semifinals. Goldin commented on their progress compared to last year: "Last year we didn't get anyone past the second round at this event," he said. "This year Nel and Emilia made it to the finals of doubles, Nika and Nel made it to the semifinals of singles, and Nadiia lost a close three-set match in the quarterfinals to the eventual singles champion."

Nikolajeva was narrowly defeated by Oakland's Oliwia Klimas in three sets (6-1, 4-6, 6-1), while Van Hout lost her semifinal match against Martyna Piechowicz (7-4 [7-4], 7-5). Nadiia Konieva also progressed past her first-round opponent before exiting in the round of 16.

Doubles teams representing Milwaukee found some success beyond Durska/Van Hout as well; however, no other Panther pairs reached later rounds.

"I am extremely proud of how hard the girls competed," Goldin said. "We also had a fun weekend celebrating Nika's [Nikola Nikolajeva] birthday together. We are looking forward to getting back on court."

The Panthers will conclude their fall season with matches against Whitewater scheduled for Friday and Saturday.