MILWAUKEE, Wis. – The Milwaukee tennis team return to the road and take on non-conference foes in Chicago State and Valparaiso beginning Saturday, Feb. 9. After this weekend's play, the Panthers will hit the mid-point of its non-conference season before league play on March 23.
 
PANTHERS AND COURGARS AND CRUSADERS, OH MY: MKE will take on Chicago State Saturday for a 3 p.m. dual. The contest will be played at the Chicago Athletic Tennis Courts. Then on Sunday, the Panthers will take on former Horizon League opponent, now with the Missouri Valley, Valparaiso Crusaders. The two teams will square off at 10 a.m. (CT) at the Match Point Tennis Club in Griffith, Ind.
 
ABOUT THE COUGARS: Chicago State have just two matches in this season and are currently 0-2 coming off a 6-18 2018 season.
 
The Cougars are led by sophomores Katarina Drazic and Iesha Shepherd. The two sophomores combined for 33 wins at singles and 20 wins at doubles.
 
When the two teams met up last season, the Panthers came out on top winning 4-3 including wins from Nicole Clarke, Agata Jurczak and Lucy Harper.
 
ABOUT THE CRUSADERS: The Crusaders are currently 1-3 coming off of three-straight loses to Toledo, Butler and IUPUI. In 2018, the team finished 5-17 (0-5 Missouri Valley).
 
Leading returner for the Crusaders is sophomore Jelena Vujanic. The MVC All-Select winner owned a 19-6 singles record and 12-12 mark in doubles activity. Her 19 wins is the most by any Valpo player since 2006-2007.
 
Also returning to the Crusader staff is sophomore Claire Czerwonka who totaled 14 singles wins and a team-high 15 doubles wins in her freshman campaign. Her 15 single-season doubles win total is tied for ninth in Crusader program history. This season, Czerwonka is currently 7-6 overall, 2-2 in duals, and 6-3 in doubles play.
 
LAST TIME OUT: Last Saturday (Feb. 2) the Panthers dropped a 6-1 dual to Big East opponent Butler.
 
Despite the team loss, No. 1 Doubles team Alexandra Belle and Mayya Pervoa remain undefeated together improving their record to 4-0 after defeating Bulldog's Sara Linn and Emily Neal, 6-4.
 
AWARDS, AWARDS, AWARDS: The Panthers took home HL honors in the first two weeks of competitive play.
 
Belle earned Singles Player of the Week for the week of Jan. 22, and the Panthers swept the awards for the week of Jan. 28 with Nicole Clarke grabbing Singles Player of the Week and Belle/Perova earning Doubles Team of the Week.
 
NEXT UP: MKE returns home after a weekend on the road beginning Feb. 15 against Drake. The Drake/MKE dual will be played at the Helfaer Tennis Stadium at Marquette beginning at 10 a.m. The Panthers will then follow-up with Eastern Illinois on their own home court the next day at River Glen Elite. The match is slated for a 1 p.m. start time.