MILWAUKEE, Wis. – The Milwaukee tennis team is back home this weekend and the team will host the Valparaiso Crusaders and Chicago State Cougars beginning Saturday, February 8.
 
WHEN & WHERE: Both matches will be held at River Glen Elite in Milwaukee and will promptly begin at 1 p.m. The Panthers will take on Valpo Saturday, Feb. 8 and follow-up with Chicago State the next day.
 
ABOUT THE OPPONENTS:
VALPARAISO: The Crusaders are coming off a 3-18, 2-9 2019 record, but have already matched last year's total so far in 2020. Mid-January, Valpo opened the spring season with a win over fellow Horizon League opponent IUPUI and a loss to Butler.
 
Looking to lead the Crusaders this year are the Czerwonka sisters, Claire and Olivia. Junior Claire Czerwonka is a key returner who finished 11-18, 1-4 overall in 2019. The Kenosha (Wis.) native has cracked the Top 10 in program history in career doubles and is just shy to do the same in singles. Olivia joins her sister as a freshman and is slotted in the No. 2 singles position.
 
In July 2019, Bob Modesto was named the head coach of the women's program replacing Tammy Cecchini who held the position since 2015.
 
The Panthers currently have an 11-match win streak over the Crusaders.
 
CHICAGO STATE: Chicago State is currently 0-4 this season with a recent loss to UIC last weekend. The Cougars have also competed against Saint Louis University, Southern Illinois-Edwardsville and Illinois State so far this year.
 
The squad is led by Junior Katarina Drazic who has recorded double-digit single wins the past two seasons.
 
In the last five years, the Panthers own a 4-1 record over the Cougars. Chicago State broke the Panthers head-to-head match streak in 2019 with a 6-1 victory over MKE.
 
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.
 
UPCOMING SCHEDULE: The black & gold will hit the road for the next six matches. The first four will be out of state to Illinois and Iowa, but then will return to the state of Wisconsin for their final two non-conference duals.