MILWAUKEE – The Milwaukee women's tennis team put together a brilliant performance against Eastern Illinois, coming up with nearly every decision on the day as it recorded a 7-0 victory Saturday afternoon at River Glen Elite.
 
The MKE Panthers (4-3) claimed the doubles point, 2-1, against the EIU Panthers (0-6) and took off from there, sweeping through all six singles flights in straight sets – capped by a tie-break win from Babette Burgersdijk to close out the match at No. 1.
 
"I think the biggest thing was just the adjustments that the team made from two days ago [a tough 4-3 home loss to Marquette] to today," head coach Mark Goldin said. "I am really proud of the girls for that and just the fact that they used that as motivation. They were very coachable today and it showed."
 
Doubles play got off to a strong start with Burgersdijk and Sara Simonova (6-2 at No. 2) and Emilia Durska and Iva Stejskalova (6-1 at No. 3) picking up convincing victories to give Milwaukee the 1-0 lead.
 
Singles action was impressive, starting with Simonova, who won 6-0, 6-0 over Luisa Ren-Salazar at No. 5.
 
"We definitely were disappointed from losing our last match, but we took it and used it as motivation," Goldin said. "I think we had our best practice of the year yesterday to prepare and now we seem to be back on track."
 
Nadiia Konieva and Evelina Anastasi were right behind with dominant showings. Konieva topped Jemma Booth, 6-2, 6-1, at No. 2, while Anastasi handled Em Pilipovic-Kljajic by a similar score of 6-1, 6-2.
 
Laure Razet (No. 4) then closed out Michelle Kostadinova 6-4, 6-1 and Durska defeated Charleigh Fay at No. 6 by a final score of 6-3, 6-4 to get the team to 6-0.
 
Burgersdijk then capped the afternoon with a victory in the tiebreaker, fending off Addison Brown 6-1, 7-6 (9-7).
 
The busy stretch of three home matches in four days concludes Saturday, seeing the Panthers host SIUE at 1 p.m.
 
"I think that the fitness is an advantage for us," Goldin said of the busy schedule. "We have put in the work since the end of August and we feel that we are in the shape that we need to be in to compete for long matches and long weeks."
 
Milwaukee Panthers 7, Eastern Illinois 0
Singles competition
1. Babette Burgersdijk (MKE) def. Addison Brown (EIU) 6-1, 7-6 (9-7)
2. Nadiia Konieva (MKE) def. Jemma Booth (EIU) 6-2, 6-1
3. Emilia Durska (MKE) def. Charleigh Fay (EIU) 6-3, 6-4
4. Laure Razet (MKE) def. Michelle Kostadinova (EIU) 6-4, 6-1
5. Sara Simonova (MKE) def. Luisa Ren-Salazar (EIU) 6-0, 6-0
6. Evelina Anastasi (MKE) def. Em Pilipovic-Kljajic (EIU) 6-1, 6-2
Doubles competition
1. Jemma Booth/Addison Brown (EIU) def. Laure Razet/Nadiia Konieva (MKE) 6-4
2. Babette Burgersdijk/Sara Simonova (MKE) def. Luisa Ren-Salazar/Charleigh Fay (EIU) 6-2
3. Emilia Durska/Iva Stejskalova (MKE) def. Michelle Kostadinova/Em Pilipovic-Kljajic (EIU) 6-1