The Milwaukee women's tennis team is back to work this weekend, set for a busy schedule with a road match Saturday and a home match Sunday.
 
Up first is a trip Saturday to take on Whitewater, scheduled to get underway at 11:30 a.m. from the Warhawk Outdoor Tennis Complex (this was a change from the original 12:30 p.m. start now that it has been moved outside). Then, it's back home Sunday to welcome UC Irvine at River Glen Elite. That matchup is scheduled for an earlier start, beginning at 10 a.m.
 
River Glen Elite, the home of MKE Tennis, is located at 2001 Good Hope Road in Milwaukee (53209), a half-mile west of I-43 between River Hills and Glendale. Admission is free.
 
The Panthers are 4-5 on the season and competed just once last week, falling to a tough Illinois State squad by a final score of 6-1.
 
SCOUTING THE OPPONENTS
The all-time series against Whitewater is an interesting one, with the Panthers holding the 12-6 advantage. However, both teams have recorded long winning streaks in the process. The Warhawks went first, claiming the first six meetings dating back the first one in 1990. Then, beginning with an 8-1 victory in 2006, the Panthers will go into the matchup on Saturday having come out on top in the past 12 meetings, including back-to-back 7-0 wins the past two seasons.
 
Whitewater boasts a very successful NCAA D-III program and has won the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference title the past 17 consecutive seasons, including a year ago when the Warhawks finished 14-5 overall and a perfect 6-0 in conference duals. Cassie Lee was named the WIAC Player of the Year after posting a 12-3 record in singles and 12-2 in doubles. Frank Barnes was honored as league coach of the year for the 10^th time in his career. Whitewater is off to a 6-0 start this season, all coming in the fall. The team opens the spring slate at Northern Illinois Friday. Lee leads the way with an unbeaten 6-0 mark in singles action (all at No. 1), while teaming up with Gracie Ha to go 6-0 at No. 1 doubles as well.
 
Elizabeth Ferris Smith enters her eighth year at the helm of the UC Irvine women's tennis program, coming off an 11-9 record a season ago. This year, the Anteaters are 4-6 overall but have won back-to-back matches against Cal State LA (6-1 Feb. 24) and Hope International (7-0 Feb. 28). The team is on a trip to the Midwest this weekend, also taking on Chicago State Friday before heading to Milwaukee for the first-ever meeting between the two programs.
 
Larissa Teramura leads singles play with a 6-2 record, with Amanda Perez (5-2) and Haily Huynh (5-4) second in wins. On the doubles side, Jenna Schlatter is tops with five wins (5-5).
 
PILING UP THE WINS
Nadiia Konieva is off to an incredible start to the season and now sits at 13-1 overall on the campaign in singles play. She is also 8-0 at No. 2 and has won those eight consecutive matches heading into play on Saturday. At eight in a row, she's closing in on the longest singles victory streak by a Panther since Mayya Perova went for 10 in a row in the spring of 2022.
 
 Laure Razet is second with nine wins (9-6), while Sara Simonova (7-7) is third. In doubles, Iva Stejskalova stands alone at 12 wins (12-3 overall) and has combined with Emilia Durska to go 7-1 and claim wins in their past four consecutive matches. Konieva (11-6) is runner-up in doubles victories.
 
IT'S A SWEEP
The Panthers swept the Horizon League Under Armour Player of the Week awards Feb. 7, when Sara Simonova was named the Horizon League Singles Player of the Week, while Simonova and Babette Burgersdijk partnered up to be selected as the Horizon League Doubles Team of the Week.
 
Simonova went 2-0 on the week and is the first MKE player to earn the league singles honor since Mayya Perova in March of 2022. In sweeping the awards with Burgersdijk (the duo also went 2-0 against North Dakota and Bradley), it marked the first time MKE tennis has accomplished that league feat of all three accolades at once since February of 2021 when Greta Carbone (singles) and Mayya Perova/Nikki Milner (doubles) were honored.
 
NEW LEADERSHIP AT THE TOP 
Hopes remain high this spring for the Panthers and first-year head coach Mark Goldin after the team reached the Horizon League Tournament semifinals. That followed a trip to the league championship match the year prior. A year ago, the squad was knocked out by top-seeded Youngstown State, coming up just short of a return trip to the title match.
 
Goldin is a fixture in the Milwaukee tennis community and was named the head coach of the Panthers in August, 2023, following a very successful run as the head coach at Cardinal Stritch University and, most recently, as the assistant general manager at Elite Sports Club in Mequon.

His tenure at Cardinal Stritch from 2013 to 2021 was impressive, earning the Wilson ITA Women's NAIA National Coach of the Year Award in 2014 in addition to four East Region Wilson ITA Coach of the Year accolades and Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference Coach of the Year honors on eight different occasions (4 women's/4 men's).
 
Goldin guided the Wolves to a 64-1 overall CCAC conference record over his first eight seasons on the women's side after founding the program, eight CCAC Conference championship titles, and a team ranking as high as No. 4 in the nation. On the men's side, the team went 61-4 in CCAC play, claiming seven league titles as well as a national ranking as high as No. 2 in back-to-back seasons. His teams also received the highest team GPA awards from the department numerous times, including winning the award on each side his final semester.
 
No stranger to the Panthers, Goldin served as an assistant with the program from 2009 through 2012, helping the team improve from near the bottom of the league standings to a Top-3 program in his time. In fact, MKE went from five team wins, 39 individual wins and a 2-6 conference record in his first year to 13 team wins, 126 individual wins and a 6-2 Horizon League record for third place, the best in school history at the time.
  
ROSTER MAKEUP
The current roster comes from an extensive background of seven different countries and will consist of five returners, a transfer to the program, and two freshmen. Leading the way for the returners in Nadiia Konieva, who was named All-Horizon League First Team as well as the Horizon League Freshmen of the Year following an outstanding first season with the Panthers (just fourth MKE tennis player to earn Freshman of the Year honors in program history). She finished the season with an overall record of 20-14 in singles play and 18-14 in doubles action. Konieva played singles from No. 2 to No. 4 position and recorded 20 singles victories, the first Panther to achieve the 20-plus milestone since 2017.
 
FALL FESTIVITES
This fall, Milwaukee competed in three different tournaments, visiting Michigan and for a pair of trips in addition to an event in-state. Konieva led the way in singles with a 5-1 mark, with newcomer Laure Razet joining her for the team lead with a 5-2 ledger. Freshman Evelina Anastasi was next at 4-2. In doubles, the team of Konieva and Razet paced the Panthers at an impressive 4-1.
 
Milwaukee has been picked to finish fourth in the league this season in a poll of the league's coaches, despite very strong finishes to their campaign each of the past two years. The Panthers finished 2-4 last spring and went into the Horizon League Tournament as the No. 5 seed, knocking off No. 4 Northern Kentucky, 4-0, before falling to Youngstown State in the semifinals.
 
HOME SWEET HOME
The Panthers have been stellar at home of late, going 26-13 over the past four-plus years, including a 10-3 mark in 2021. Last season, MKE claimed victories in three of its final four home duals heading into the postseason and were 8-4 overall.
 
UP NEXT
The team has a week off and will not be back on the court until a road match at Wisconsin, set for 5 p.m. on March 16.