The first road trip of the Horizon League season will be a challenging one for the Milwaukee women's tennis team, heading out to take on the top two teams from the 2025 league preseason poll this weekend.
 
Up first is a stop at Younsgtown State Saturday, set for a start time of 10 a.m. CT. The Penguins checked in at No. 2 in the preseason poll and have reached the conference postseason title match eight times in the past 10 years. The match will be held at the YSU Indoor Tennis Center.
 
Then, on Sunday, it's on to Cleveland State for a battle against the No. 1 team from the 2025 league poll, set to get underway at 9 a.m. CT from Medical Mutual Tennis Pavilion. The Vikings went 5-1 in conference matches last season, concluding as runner-up at the Horizon League Championships.
 
The Panthers head into the weekend at 6-11 overall and are off to an 0-1 start in conference following a tough 4-3 loss to Oakland to open the slate last weekend.
 
SCOUTING THE OPPONENTS
YOUNGSTOWN STATE: Twelfth-year head coach Mickael Sopel has done an impressive job turning the Penguins into one of the most respected programs in the Midwest. Sopel, the 2023 Horizon League Coach of the Year, has led the Penguins to seven league postseason titles, appeared in seven NCAA Championships, and have reached the conference postseason title match eight times in the 10 years it has been contested since his arrival on campus. They went 5-1 in league play in 2024 to grab a share of the regular-season crown, finishing 8-13 overall with the season coming to an end on the Horizon League Tournament semifinals.
 
The 'Guins are 7-7 this spring, with recent struggles seeing them drop three consecutive matches including their league opener to Cleveland State, 4-3. Julia Marko (20-8) and Lorena Cedeno (15-9) lead the way in singles victories during successful individual campaigns, with Ghada Dirninger (13-14) tops in doubles wins.
 
CLEVELAND STATE: The Vikings are coming off a very successful campaign a season ago, finishing 14-10 overall as well as 5-1 in Horizon League action. CSU came up just short of a championship, falling to Chicago State in the title match by a final score of 4-2. The team was selected as the Horizon League preseason favorite, earning 47 points and five first place votes. This marked the second consecutive season that Cleveland State was selected at the top of the preseason poll.
 
Led by seventh-year head coach Frank Polito, the team is 7-9 overall this season and off to a 1-0 start this spring after taking down YSU, 4-3. Throughout Polito's tenure with the Vikings, he has helped guide Cleveland State to five regular-season Horizon League titles (2016, 2017, 2019, 2022, & 2024), eight semifinal appearances, and three championship match appearances at the Horizon League Tournament. They have won three in a row after also defeating Duquesne (W, 5-2 March 23) and St. Bonaventure (W, 5-2 March 15) in most recent action. Sima Heren (20-7) and Tereze Vevere (20-8) lead the way in singles play, with Oihane Vicario also enjoying a successful campaign at 15-5. In doubles, the tandem of Vevere and Ella Franz are an impressive 19-4.
 
NIFTY NIKO
Nikola Nikolajeva was brilliant in helping the Panthers to a 2-0 team record with her recent play. She started things with a huge comeback victory to help Milwaukee to a thrilling and dramatic 4-3 victory over Western Illinois March 1. The match was deadlocked at three points apiece with Nikolajeva left at No. 2 singles to determine the winner. Down 5-1 in the deciding third set, she fought off six match points and then won the tiebreaker 11-9 to send the Panthers to the big victory over the Leathernecks.
 
Then, on Sunday, she moved up a spot to No. 1 singles due to injury and dispatched Whitewater's #1, 6-2, 6-0 as part of a 7-0 MKE victory. She was rewarded with Horizon League Singles Player of the Week honors March 5 for her efforts.
 
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 31-16 over the past four-plus years, including a 10-3 mark in 2021.
 
UP NEXT
The Panthers return to the state but remain on the road, heading next to take on DePaul April 11 and Chicago State April 12.