The final two matches of the regular season are up next for the Milwaukee women's tennis team, looking to improve its seeding for the Horizon League Tournament when the Panthers hit the road to take on Northern Kentucky and IUPUI.
 
Up first is a battle against NKU Saturday, set to take place at Five Seasons Sports Club starting at 1 p.m. CT. Then, the regular season concludes Sunday morning when MKE visits West Indy Racquet Club to battle the Jaguars starting at 10 a.m. CT.
 
The Panthers head into action at 7-11 overall and are 1-3 in league play after a loss at Chicago State last week. Milwaukee is 6-3 all-time against the Norse, going 1-1 last season including a 4-2 victory in the postseason.
 
MKE has a 15-7 mark against IUPUI, having won the past 12 in a row against the Jaguars including a 6-1 decision at home last season. The win streak dates back to 2007.

SCOUTING THE OPPONENTS
NORTHERN KENTUCKY: The Norse went 10-9 overall last school year and were 3-3 in conference play. They were picked to finish fifth in the preseason poll this year.

The team enters play Saturday at 5-9 overall and 2-2 in conference action, having dropped back-to-back matches to YSU (L, 6-1) and CSU (L, 7-0). Sylvia Gray (10-7) and Ananya Kothakota (10-8) are tied for the team lead in singles victories, while Laura Grau (10-4) is tops in doubles wins with Elizabeth Rozin (9-6) and Ashlee Fisk (9-6) just behind. Head coach Brian Nester is in his 12^th season with the program.
 
IUPUI: The Jaguars went 9-16 last year and were pegged for seventh in the poll. Pawel Gajdzik, head coach since August of 2022, added two freshman and a graduate student in the offseason and are now 8-10 overall on the season and still in search of a win in league play at 0-4. Elle Kotre leads singles play with 10 wins, while Gabbie Orlando leads doubles action with seven victories.
 
DUO HONORED FOR WORK IN CLASSROOM
Nadiia Konieva and Sara Simonova were named to the Horizon League Valeo All-Academic Team April 18. The honor is a career first for both student-athletes and marks the third consecutive season that the Panthers have had two players on the squad.
 
TAKING CHARGE
In what was a challenging week for the Panthers taking on the No. 1 and No. 2 teams from the league preseason poll, the doubles team of Babette Burgersdijk and Nadiia Konieva was up to the challenge, going 2-0 at No. 1 doubles in convincing fashion. They started with a big 6-3 defeat of Cleveland State's Sima Heren and Oihane Vicario – the reigning Horizon League Doubles Team of the Week. The duo then followed that up with a 6-2 win over YSU's top doubles squad last Sunday.
 
CAVESTRO HONORED
Giorgia Cavestro was recognized as a member of the 2023-24 Lubar 25 in early April, a program identifying business students dedicated to academic success, entrepreneurship, volunteering, and campus involvement at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.
 
To be recognized, students must be an undergraduate business student with a junior or senior standing and have a minimum cumulative grade point average of 3.00. Additionally, students must have not been recognized by the Lubar 25 in a previous year.
 
UP TO THE CHALLENGE
The Panthers took on Georgia Gwinnett March 21, a program that is ranked No 1 at the NAIA level and has won the past seven consecutive National Championships. 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.
 
PILING UP THE WINS
Nadiia Konieva is enjoying a solid season and now sits at 15-8 overall on the campaign in singles play. She is also 10-6 at No. 2 and had a recent 10-mtach winning streak snapped against Wisconsin March 16. At 10 in a row, she 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 12 wins (12-10), while Sara Simonova is third with nine. In doubles, Iva Stejskalova is near the top at 16 wins (16-7 overall) and has combined with Emilia Durska to go 11-5 and claimed wins six consecutive matches at one point. Konieva (17-7) also leads in doubles victories and has gone a perfect 4-0 in league play at No. 1, teaming up with Babette Burgersdijk.
  
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.

UP NEXT
The top six teams in the final standings will head to the Horizon League Tournament, taking place April 26-28 at Schwartz Tennis Center in West Lafayette, Ind.