BLOOMINGTON, Ill. – The Milwaukee tennis once again won the doubles point in the first round of the Redbird Invitational against Bowling Green, but the team was unable to overcome the Falcons in singles play, falling by a score of 4-2.
 
The Panthers (5-5) started off strong winning two of three matches in doubles, but came up shy in singles against the Falcons (4-3). MKE will play for third place Sunday against the Dayton Flyers who lost to host Illinois State, 4-1.
 
"That was a great college tennis match, said Panther head coach Jason Potthoff. Both teams fought their guts out and the atmosphere in the building was incredible from start to finish. We played another solid doubles point, but we didn't capitalize on that momentum and let our opponents get too comfortable to start the singles. We did a good job of fighting back to win second sets on three courts to give ourselves a chance, but it wasn't quite enough to get the job done. We're not going to have a lot of gas in the tank tomorrow, so we've got to be prepared to dig deep and fight for our teammates so we can end the weekend with a good result."
 
Nicole Clarke and Nikki Milner improved their overall record together to 7-1 with a 6-2 win over M. Sophia Tavpash and Marta Bettnelli. The Panthers clinched the doubles point when Anna Daniel Fuentes and Agata Jurczak defeated Ayumi and Laura Silveira, 6-4.
 
Singles play was hard fought as four-of-six matches went to three sets. Senior Nicole Clarke earned the lone singles win with a comeback win defeating Ioanna Tsadari, 3-6, 6-3, 7-5.
 
Both Mayya Perova and Anika Tylek forced a third set after winning the their second set, but were unable to come up with the W against their Falcon opponent.
 
Up Next, the Panthers will conclude the Redbird Invite Sunday morning against Dayton for a fight for third place. The match is set to begin at 9 a.m.