The Milwaukee women's tennis team heads into a very busy weekend schedule, playing three matches in three days as mid-February hits. First up is a visit to former league foe UIC Friday. Then, it's back home Saturday to host St. Thomas. Sunday wraps up the weekend with another drive, heading back to Illinois to battle Northwestern.
 
The Panthers sit at 4-3 overall and are coming off a solid 5-2 victory over Valparaiso.
 
The weekend gets underway Friday afternoon against the Flames, scheduled to start at 12 p.m. from XS Tennis in Chicago, Ill.
 
After that match, the Panthers return home, welcoming the Tommies Saturday afternoon at River Glen Elite, getting underway at 3 p.m. that day. 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 three matches in a span of about 60 hours wraps up Sunday against the Wildcats, competing at Combe Tennis Center – one of the nation's premier indoor collegiate tennis facilities. The battle gets underway at 4 p.m. and NU will be providing both live statistics and live video of the match. All links are available on the MKE website. 
 
SCOUTING THE OPPONENTS
UIC: Milwaukee and UIC have continued the all-time series every year since the Flames left the Horizon League and it leans very heavily to UIC's favor. The Flames were a dynasty when in the Horizon, claiming the league title every year from 1997 through 2013 as well as 19 times overall. In fact, at one point, the Flames put together a regular-season winning streak against league foes that reached 146 consecutive matches. Milwaukee has dropped the past 11 in the series, last claiming a victory with a 4-3 decision back in 2014. A year ago, the Flames came out on top, 5-2.
 
The team went 10-13 a season ago, with a 5-3 mark in Missouri Valley Conference play. Elizabeth Lumpkin Robinson was named UIC's women's tennis head coach in November 2023 and led her team to the MVC semifinals for the first time in program history last year.
 
She has the team off to a 2-1 start this season, beating Marquette (W, 5-2 Jan. 24) and Roosevelt (W, 7-0 Feb. 6).  UIC's doubles team of Camille Belberka and Tamara Malazonia were named All-Missouri Valley Conference last year, with Belberka being relied on as a key returner. Llu Dongke (3-0) and Anais Brion (2-0) lead the way in singles play so far.
 
ST. THOMAS: Milwaukee and St. Thomas will be meeting for the first time in program history. Colby Carlson is entering his second season as head coach of the women's tennis program in the 2024-25 season, leading them to an 8-13 mark last year.
 
The Tommies were picked to finish seventh in the Summit League preseason poll. Caroline Lindahl was named to the Summit League's preseason athletes to watch list after finishing the season 9-10 overall in singles play a year ago. St. Thomas is 1-2 on the campaign, falling 7-0 to Missouri in most recent action Feb. 9.
 
NORTHWESTERN: Despite being just 90 minutes away from each other, Milwaukee and Northwestern will be meeting for just the second time in program history Sunday. The only other match came in 2018, a 7-0 NU victory.
 
Claire Pollard took over as Northwestern's coach prior to the 1999 season. She has been nothing but impressive in building the program into a powerhouse, compiling a record of 476-152 during her time at NU, leading the Wildcats to the NCAA Tournament each season besides the COVID 2020-cancelled campaign. Her streak of 22 consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances is the fifth-longest streak by an active head coach at the same program.
 
The Wildcats went 18-6 last season, 9-2 in the Big Ten. They were once again in the NCAA Tournament, falling to Arizona State in the first round. Sydney Pratt (4-0) and Neena Feldman (3-0) are off to strong starts in singles play this spring and the team is currently 4-4. They have dropped three straight, but it was to nationally-ranked teams at No. 1, No. 4, and No. 15 earlier this month.
 
MAKING HISTORY
Milwaukee and Marquette have been meeting regularly for much of the past two decades, with the Golden Eagles unbeaten in the series – until Feb. 2 that is. The Panthers won the doubles point against the Golden Eagles and then had to wait until the very end to close out the match, with Emilia Durska coming through with the three-set come-from-behind win to give MKE its first victory in program history over its city rival.
 
That gives Milwaukee a perfect 2-0 record against the Big East this season. In addition to the win over Marquette, the Panthers also defeated Providence, 6-1, back on Jan. 26, 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 get a break in the schedule, next returning to the court March 1 when they host Western Illinois in a match scheduled to begin at 1 p.m.