Panthers Series Sweep = Bid into Horizon League Tournament
 
MILWAUKEE, Wis. – Greta Carbone and Nikki Milner each won third-set nail-biters to lead the Milwaukee tennis team to a come-from-behind, 4-3 win over Cleveland State in the final regular season match Sunday afternoon from River Glen Elite. With the win, the Panthers clinch the No. 3 overall seed to the Horizon League Tournament.
 
With the Vikings leading, 3-2, and two singles matches remaining, Milner gutted out a three-set win at No. 4 singles to tie the score. Carbone then clinched the berth in the Horizon League tournament with a win at No. 1.
 
The Panthers (14-7, 7-5) will face No. 2 seed Youngstown State in the semifinals. This year's Horizon League Tournament will be held at the Schwartz Tennis Center in West Lafayette, Ind.
 
Milwaukee won the doubles point with a clean sweep to start the afternoon. Anna Daniel Fuentes and Agata Jurczak took the first match 6-2 over Bethany Yauch and Gaby Schoenberg. The Panthers clinched the point when Mayya Perova and Anika Tylek finished next with a 6-3 triumph against Blanche Lenoan and Kateryna Avram.
 
"There aren't really words that can do justice to a match like that," said head coach Jason Potthoff. "We played amazing doubles again today, with some really heroic efforts displayed by Anna [Daniel Fuentes] and Aga [Jurczak], our seniors at line No. 3. Mayya [Perova] and Anika [Tylek] at line No. 2 bounced back and played much better today, and Greta and Nikki at line No. 1 did a great job of fighting for every point and keeping their match alive long enough for us to clinch the doubles."
 
Cleveland State took the first two singles matches to grab a 2-1 lead. Klara Mrcela topped Daniel Fuentes 6-2, 6-3 at line four, then Gaby Schoenberg defeated Lucy Harper 6-2, 6-4.
 
The Black & Gold tied the score at 2-2 when Perova won in straight sets, 6-3, 6-3, rebounding from Saturday's loss.
 
Milner tied the match at 3-all with a thrilling, come-from-behind win over Bethany Yauch at No. 4 singles. Yauch won the first set, 6-3, but Milner roared back to win the match, 6-3, 7-5 in the second and third sets.
 
Almost simultaneously, Carbone and Miruna Vasilescu headed to a third-set tiebreaker at No. 1 singles to decide the match. Carbone rallied down a set to win 6-4, 7-6(5). With the win, Carbone wrapped up the regular season 16-4, 10-2 overall, and handed Vasilescu her first Horizon League loss.
 
"Singles was just a battle, with the top of the lineup getting the wins that the bottom of the lineup got yesterday," said Potthoff. "Nikki was so clutch again today, bouncing back from a slow start and then overcoming a lot of adversity to tie the team match at 3-3. And for Greta to get the clinching singles point to send us to the tournament, that's just a testament to her growth and maturity that she's been working on all year. I am so proud of the effort and grit that this team showed today."
 
The No. 3 Panthers will play its semifinal match against No. 2 seed Youngstown State on Saturday, May 1 at 10 a.m. (CT) at the Schwartz Tennis Center hosted by Purdue University.