MILWAUKEE, Wis. – The Milwaukee tennis team will take on two more Illinois based teams this weekend after facing Eastern Illinois last weekend. The Panthers will face Northern Illinois Saturday, February 1 on the road, and will follow-up with Western Illinois the next day.
 
TIME & PLACE: MKE will cross the border just south and travel to Rockford (IL) for a 1 p.m. dual against the Huskies. The match will take place at the Boylan Tennis Center Saturday. On Sunday, the Panther will host Western Illinois at River Glen Elite with a start time of 1 p.m.
 
SCOUTING THE OPPONENTS:
NORTHERN ILLINOIS: The Northern Illinois Huskies are off to a quick start beginning the season 2-0 with wins over fellow Horizon League foe, Green Bay (6-1) and NAIA powerhouse, Olivet Nazarene. Before taking on the Panthers Saturday, NIU will travel to Wisconsin to take on the Badgers.
 
A season ago, the Huskies finished 5-15 and 0-7 in the Mid-American Conference. The team returns Christy Robinson who went 10-14 overall in singles play, and is the lone returner with double-digit wins.
 
When the two teams met last year, NIU squeaked by with a 4-3 win.
 
WESTERN ILLINOIS: The Leathernecks currently sit at 0-4 to start the 2020 season. Before facing the Panthers, WIU will travel to Green Bay.
 
The team returns long senior Laura Ballesteros who accumulated an 8-7 singles record overall. Ballesteros was also selected to The Summit League Player to Women's Tennis Preseason Athletes to Watch this season. Meanwhile, the rest of the squad is made of freshmen.
 
The last time these two teams met up, Milwaukee swept the Leathernecks, 7-0 and have swept them in the previous five duals.
 
LEAGUE HONORS: In their first week of competition of the 2020 season, duo Nicole Clarke and Nikki Milner were named Horizon League Doubles Team of the week, for the week of Jan. 28. Competing as MKE's No. 1 doubles team, Clarke and Milner combined for a 2-0 record, and helped the Panthers to a 1-1 weekend. The tandem defeated Cardinal Stritch 6-4, and dropped just two sets against Eastern Illinois, winning by a final score of 6-2.
 
THE 2020 SQUAD: Head coach Jason Potthoff enters his third season at the helm with a full team that consists of six returners and one newcomer. MKE is coming off its best seasons since 2014, where the team finished 2019 at 13-10, 6-3 and earning a conference tournament bid and regular season fourth-place finish.
 
The Panthers lost just one to graduation in Alexandra Belle who's experience and leadership will be missed. Belle finished 15-8, 5-4, and combined for a 19-3 doubles record.
 
Headlining this year's roster is 2019 Horizon League Freshman of the Year, Mayya Perova. Perova finished 13-8, 6-3 in singles and a school best 22-2 doubles record. Perova teamed up with Belle and Nicole Clarke as the black & gold's No. 1 doubles team.
 
Nicole Clarke and Anna Daniel Fuentes return for their fourth and final year. The duo combined for 26 single wins, while also adding 24 wins in doubles.
 
Rounding out the roster, the Panthers return Lucy Harper, Agata Jurczak, Nikki Milner and sophomore transfer Anika Tylek.
 
 
NEXT UP: Milwaukee will host two home matches the weekend of February 8 against Valparaiso and Chicago State before grinding it out for eight-consecutive matches on the road.