March 23, 2014

Results

MILWAUKEE - The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee women's tennis team finished a busy weekend of action with a key, 4-3 win over Detroit Sunday afternoon.

The Panthers (7-7, 3-0 Horizon) won the doubles point and then claimed three singles wins in straight-sets to clinch the victory.

Milwaukee has equaled its best league start in school history and knocked off a Titans team picked to finish second in the league standings.

"This was really a team effort," head coach Greg Cromwell said. "We lost Dana Shannon to injury this weekend and the team has been rallying around the idea of playing as hard as she plays when she's in the lineup. It worked. We played really well yesterday and we had to because Oakland is a good team. But we knew today would be even tougher and the team really came through."

Milwaukee won the crucial doubles point. Christina Colarossi and Kristin Kurer teamed up for an 8-2 win in the third spot while Diana Tokar and Aerielle Pendleton pulled out a hard-fought 8-6 win in the top spot.

That set the stage for the Panthers to win the match. Tokar was dominant in the top spot, winning 6-2, 6-2 over Viktoria Laskutova. Christina Colarossi also controlled her match in the fourth spot, beating Julia Fernandes, 6-4, 6-3. Finally, Kristin Kurer slowly seized command of her match in the sixth spot., pulling out the first set, 7-5, before claiming a 6-2 in the second to claim the win for the Panthers.

"Detroit is outstanding and they are super deep," Cromwell said. "Getting the doubles point was key - I knew we needed to have that. But we competed very well, even in the matches we didn't win. Diana and Kristin were really good again and Christina has been playing amazing tennis the last few weeks.

"We were disappointed with how we played against Northern Iowa and Illinois State last week and we demand more of ourselves up and down lineup and as a team. This weekend was a great time to bring it and the team definitely responded to the challenge."

Milwaukee steps back outside of Horizon League play with a pair of home matches next weekend. Bradley visits Milwaukee on Saturday before the Panthers face off with South Dakota Sunday.