Following nearly a two-week break from competition, the Milwaukee women's tennis team returns to action this weekend when it heads to Madison to take on the Badgers, listed at No. 25 in the ITA rankings and up four spots from last week.
 
The matchup is set for a start time of 5 p.m. Saturday at Nielsen Tennis Stadium. The UW Athletic Department will be providing live stats, with links available on the MKE website. Nielsen Tennis Stadium, ranked by USTA as one of the finest tennis facilities in the country, is located at near the Lakeshore Dormitories on the west end of campus at 1000 Highland Drive.
 
The Panthers are 6-5 on the season after finishing off a 2-0 weekend with a dominant effort against Whitewater (W, 6-1) and UC Irvine. Against the Anteaters (4-8), Milwaukee claimed the doubles point in impressive fashion before taking four of six of the singles matches to win 5-2 on March 3.
 
SCOUTING THE OPPONENTS
Milwaukee is 0-6 all-time against the Badgers, with a 7-0 UW win in 2023 the first meeting in the series since 2018.
 
The Badgers had a successful weekend of Big Ten competition, taking down both Purdue and Indiana. The team is now 2-0 in conference play and sits atop the Big Ten and have upped their season record to an impressive 10-2 overall. UW is also set to battle Minnesota Saturday, set for a noon start.
 
Facing Purdue, the Badgers started with a competitive advantage with the Boilermakers forfeiting their No. 3 doubles and No. 6 singles. Rosie Garcia Gross and Maria Sholokohva had standout performances, defeating their opponents in straight sets to clinch the match for the Badgers, 4-0. New doubles pairing, Alina Mukhortova and Ava Martin, proved their dominance on Sunday against Indiana by breezing through their match to win, 6-2. Ariel Johnson and Taylor Cataldi served up great matches to win in quick sets of 6-0, 6-3. 
 
For the season, Maria Sholokhova leads the way in singles at 9-3 overall, with Taylor Cataldi close behind at 8-3. In doubles, Cataldi paces the squad with a 7-2 mark, with Alina Mukhortova (6-3) and Xinyu Cai (6-2) close behind. Kelcy McKenna is in her eighth season as head coach of the Wisconsin women's tennis team in 2023-24. The Badgers had one of their best seasons in program history last year, winning an NCAA Tournament match for the first time since 2002, and reached as high as No. 11 in the ITA rankings, their highest team ranking since 1996, and finished the season ranked No. 22. Wisconsin was a force at the national level all season as it was ranked in the top-25 for 14 weeks. The Badgers recorded a 20-win season for the first time since 1996-97 and went 8-3 in Big Ten matches for the second straight season. Ava Markham and Maria Sholokhova were selected to the All-Big Ten team, while Markham was the first Badger to qualify in singles at the NCAA Tournament since 2016.
 
PILING UP THE WINS
Nadiia Konieva is off to an incredible start to the season and now sits at 15-1 overall on the campaign in singles play. She is also 10-0 at No. 2 and has won those 10 consecutive matches heading into play on Saturday. At 10 in a row, she's tied with 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 (10-6), while Sara Simonova (9-7) is third. In doubles, Iva Stejskalova stands alone at 14 wins (14-3 overall) and has combined with Emilia Durska to go 9-1 and claim wins in their past six consecutive matches. Konieva (12-6) 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 27-13 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. The team is 4-2 so far in 2024 as well.
 
UP NEXT
The team will head south for a pair of matches, starting with a visit to Chattanooga Wednesday. Start time is set for 1 p.m. CT against the Mocs.