Box Score BLOOMINGTON, Ill. – The Milwaukee women's tennis team started weekend competition at the Redbird Duals Saturday, taking on SEMO in doubles play as well as singles matches against both Eastern Illinois and Illinois State at Evergreen Racquet Club.
 
Doubles action opened with the Panthers taking one out of three, with Iva Stejskalova and Alice Shields earning the 6-3 decision at the No. 1 spot over Romana Tarajova and Lera Valeeva of the Redhawks.
 
"I thought today was a really important step forward for our group," head coach Ryan Kucera said. "Uncharacteristically, as a group we did not play doubles to our standard. We played a bit rushed and a bit nervous, and when you're only playing a set, that's not a successful recipe. Credit to Alice and Iva, they were aggressive from the back of the court and exhibited great teamwork to pick up the win on court 1."
 
Singles play went two matches deep, taking on both EIU and the host Redbirds. In the Panthers/Panthers matchup MKE took the sweep and Stejskalova was up to the task at No. 1, taking down Christine Gouws in three sets, winning 7-6 (1), 4-6, 10-8.
 
Babette Burgersdijk roared back from a 6-4 loss in the opener, storming back with a 6-0 decision followed by a 10-6 scoreline in the decisive third set against Elizaveta Bukraba-Ulanova at No. 2.
 
Nadiia Konieva finished off Brittany Steven, 6-3, 7-6 (6), at No. 3 while Sara Simonova claimed the win at No. 4 with a 6-4, 6-4 decision over Lauren Ellis.
 
No. 5 and No. 6 were impressive victories for Milwaukee, seeing Alice Shields (6-0, 6-1 vs. Claire Perez-Korinko) and Giorgia Cavestro (6-1. 6-0 vs. Emma Pilipovic-Kljajic) both nearly not give up a game.
 
"In singles we came out with great fire and focus against EIU," Kucera said. "We've been watching a lot of film and working on tactical adjustments, and the team was diligent to implement those. We were able to play deep in the court more consistently and earlier in rallies. We won the battle of court positioning, which set us up for success."
 
Things were a bit tougher against ISU, with the team battling but going 2-4 in the match. Highlighting the action were victories from Anika Tylek (6-4, 4-6, 10-8 vs. Tara Damnjanovic) and Anouk Ma-Ajong (6-4, 6-1 vs. Iva Poleksic).
 
"We followed that up with our best level of the year so far against Illinois State," Kucera said. "ISU is an extremely tough team, they play physical, they play fast, and they are excellent at making you pay for low-quality balls. We did a fantastic job of not backing down. We were explosive, decisive, and aggressive, and were able to trade punches with them on every court. It was extremely high-quality tennis. Obviously, the team wanted more positive results to show from their play from that round, but they also can see that we took a huge step forward with our level and there are a lot of positives to take away from this."
 
Doubles vs SEMO

1. Iva Stejskalova/Alice Shields vs. Romana Tarajova/Lera Valeeva 6-3
2. Babette Burgersdijk/Sara Simonova vs. Daniela Hlacikova/ Teona Velkoska 2-6
3. Nadiia Konieva/Giorgia Cavestro vs. Ksenia Shikanova/Vivian Lai 2-6

 
Singles vs EIU

1. Iva Stejskalova vs. Christine Gouws 7-6 (1), 4-6, 10-8
2. Babette Burgersdijk vs. Elizaveta Bukraba-Ulanova 4-6, 6-0, 10-6
3. Nadiia Konieva vs. Brittany Steven 6-3, 7-6 (6)
4. Sara Simonova vs. Lauren Ellis 6-4, 6-4
5. Alice Shields vs. Claire Perez- 6-0, 6-1
6. Giorgia Cavestro vs. Emma  Pilipovic-Kljajic 6-1, 6-0

 
Singles vs ISU

1. Iva Stejskalova vs. Tijana Zlatanovic 4-6, 0-3 (retired, injury)
2. Babette Burgersdijk vs. Alexandra Abyasova 6-2, 2-6, 4-10
3. Nadiia Konieva vs. Nevena Kolarevic 2-6, 2-6
4. Anika Tylek vs. Tara Damnjanovic 6-4, 4-6, 10-8
5. Sara Simonova vs. Silvia Pomarolli 3-6, 4-6
6. Alice Shields vs. Elena Jankulovska 3-6, 1-6
7. Anouk Ma-Ajong vs. Iva Poleksic 6-4, 6-1