LAWRENCEVILLE, Ga. – The Milwaukee women's tennis team competed against Georgia Gwinnett – the NAIA's No. 1 team and seven-time defending National Champions – Thursday afternoon, falling by a final score of 6-1 at the GGC Tennis Facility.
 
The Grizzlies (13-0) remained perfect on the season, recording wins in two of three in doubles action against the Panthers (6-8) before taking control in singles play.
 
"We came out in doubles slow – we lost the energy battle – which is rare for us because we are usually mentally tough in everything we can control," head coach Mark Goldin said.
 
Milwaukee may have dropped the doubles point, but Nadiia Konieva and Babette Burgersdijk provided an early highlight, taking down GGC's tandem of Stephanie Fernandez and Iryna Lysykh, 6-3, at No. 1.
 
The impressive victory came against the No. 3 ranked doubles team in the nation which dropped their record to 12-1 on the season.
 
In singles, it was Evelina Anastasi who made her mark, topping No. #66 Carol Mora in three sets, 6-4, 2-6, 1-0 (10-5), at the No. 6 singles line.
 
"We made the adjustment in singles and fought out every point super-hard," Goldin said. "Evelina played amazing tennis and won her match and Babette and Nadiia won a tough doubles match considering it was their first time playing together."
 
It was certainly a challenging task heading in, as the Grizzlies brought cumulative season records of 29-1 in doubles and 51-2 in singles into action today.

The Panthers return to Wisconsin and have a week to prepare for the opening of the Horizon League slate. Up first is a road trip to Michigan to battle Oakland next Saturday March 30. The match is set to get underway at 3:30 PM CT.
 
"I am confident that we are ready going into conference," Goldin said. "We are really looking forward to using this next week of training to clean up a few more things to get ready for Oakland next weekend!"
 
Tennis Match Results
#1 Georgia Gwinnett College 6, Milwaukee Panthers 1
Singles competition
1. #1 Justine Lespes (GGC) def. Babette Burgersdijk (MKE) 6-1, 6-2
2. #20 Iryna Lysykh (GGC) def. Nadiia Konieva (MKE) 6-1, 7-5
3. #12 Teodora Jovic (GGC) def. Laure Razet (MKE) 6-1, 6-3
4. Versace Gatti (GGC) def. Sara Simonova (MKE) 6-1, 7-5
5. #30 Stephanie Fernandez (GGC) def. Emilia Durska (MKE) 6-4, 6-2
6. Evelina Anastasi (MKE) def. #66 Carol Mora (GGC) 6-4, 2-6, 1-0 (10-5)
Doubles competition
1. Nadiia Konieva/Babette Burgersdijk (MKE) def. #3 Stephanie Fernandez/Iryna Lysykh (GGC) 6-3
2. Angel Carney/Versace Gatti (GGC) def. Sara Simonova/Laure Razet (MKE) 6-2
3. #13 Justine Lespes/Carol Mora (GGC) def. Iva Stejskalova/Emilia Durska (MKE) 6-2