Off to a 2-0 start for just the second time since the 2010-11 season, the Milwaukee women's tennis team is back in action this week, set to take on a pair of in-state rivals as part of a three-match weekend.
 
The Panthers will head to Madison Friday, scheduled to open the day against the host Badgers at Nielsen Tennis Stadium. That match, which was originally scheduled later in the day, has now been moved up to begin at 9 a.m.
 
In addition to taking on UW, the MKE tennis team will also battle Northern Illinois later in the day, again at Nielsen Tennis Stadium. That match is now set to get underway at 12 p.m., contingent on the completion of the match ahead of it.
 
Wisconsin will be providing live stats and a live video stream for the matches, with all links posted to the MKE website.
 
The Panthers will then close out the weekend with a drive across town to take on Marquette, set to be held at Sprovieri Tennis Complex - Wellness + Helfaer Recreation (525 N. 16th Street, Milwaukee, Wis. 53233). The matchup with the Golden Eagles will start at 11 a.m. and also has a link for live statistics available on the MKE website.
 
SCOUTING THE OPPONENTS
WISCONSIN: Milwaukee is 0-7 all-time against the Badgers, with a 7-0 UW win in 2023 the first meeting in the series since 2018. The Panthers also dropped a 7-0 decision a year ago.
 
The Badgers are 1-1 on the season after splitting a pair of matches against nationally-ranked teams, topping No. 20 Arizona State (4-2 Jan. 25) and falling to No. 9 North Carlina (4-0 Jan. 26). The team opened up its regular season unranked by the ITA but has the third-ranked singles player in the nation in Maria Sholokhova (19-5 last year). They also have the eighth-ranked doubles team in the nation in Sholokhova and Aline Mukhortova.
 
Kelcy McKenna enters her ninth season as head coach of the Wisconsin women's tennis team and is coming off a 19-7 record last season, going 8-3 in the Big Ten while also winning a match in the NCAA Tournament.
 
NORTHERN ILLINOIS: Milwaukee has gone 4-14 against the Huskies all-time, last meeting up for a match in February of 2021 – a 4-3 NIU victory (coincidentally the third consecutive 4-3 win by them in the series). MKE last came out on top in a 5-2 decision in 2017.
 
The Huskies are off to an impressive 4-1 start and are coming off 7-0 sweeps of both Northern Iowa and Eastern Illinois Jan. 25. Irmak Budak and Nataly Ninova have already picked up Mid-American Conference Singles Player of the Week honors this season. Fifth-year head coach Eric Burns ranks among the winningest women's tennis coaches in NIU history and is coming off a season in which he led the squad to a 16-10 overall mark, going 5-5 in conference play.
 
MARQUETTE: Milwaukee and Marquette have been meeting regularly for much of the past two decades, with the Golden Eagles still unbeaten in the series. The recent matchups have been close, however, with MKE just missing a win last season at 4-3. That followed a 5-2 decision in 2023 before getting edged, 4-3, in 2022.
 
The Golden Eagles are off to a 1-2 start and will play Illinois State Saturday. Their win came against Providence, 5-2, Jan. 25. The 2024-25 campaign will mark the 15th at Marquette for Jud Shaufler overall, as well as his second season as the Director of Tennis. He led the team to an 8-17 mark a year ago.
 
LAST WEEK
The Panthers got off to a 2-0 start for just the second time since 2010-11, taking down both Bradley (W, 5-2) and Providence (W, 6-1). The victory over the Friars Sunday was significant, marking the first MKE victory over a team from the Big East since February of 2007.
 
OFF AND RUNNING
Nadiia Konieva and Nikola Nikolajeva were selected as the Under Armour Horizon League Tennis Doubles Team of the Week Jan. 29. The honor is the second of Konieva's time with the Panthers and a career-first for Nikolajeva.
 
Konieva and Nikolajeva played a key role in the Panthers to a 2-0 week to open the season, getting things underway with a strong start in doubles in both matches. They defeated Bradley, 6-3, Friday, and followed that up with a 6-0 blanking of Providence Sunday - winning both at No. 1 doubles.
 
YEAR NO. 2 LOADING
Expectations for the new season are high for the Panthers and second-year head coach Mark Goldin. The Panthers went 9-12 overall last season, finishing the year as the No. 4 seed (3-3 record) for the Horizon League Tournament before suffering a heartbreaking defeat in the opening round. The team was selected third in the 2025 Horizon League preseason poll.
 
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 as the assistant general manager at Elite Sports Club in Mequon.

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 and three freshmen. Leading the way for the returners is Nadiia Konieva, who finished last season with a singles record of 17-9 and a doubles ledger of 17-8. Her 17 wins led the team in singles play and her 17 doubles victories finished second on the squad and just one off the lead, playing primarily at No. 2. That followed All-Horizon League First Team honors as well as the Horizon League Freshmen of the Year accolades following an outstanding first season with the Panthers.
 
FALL FESTIVITES
This fall, Milwaukee competed in three different tournaments, visiting Minnesota, Illinois, and Ohio. Emilia Durska (5-2) and freshman Nikola Nikolajeva (5-3) led the way in singles with five victories apiece. In doubles play, Nadiia Konieva and Nikolajeva teamed up at No. 1 the entire schedule and paced the Panthers with a 7-3 record.
 
HOME SWEET HOME
The Panthers have been stellar at home of late, going 29-13 over the past four-plus years, including a 10-3 mark in 2021.
 
UP NEXT
The Panthers hit the road for the weekend, starting things off at the University of Chicago Friday night in a match scheduled to get underway at 5 p.m.