The Milwaukee women's tennis team won't have to travel far for a pair of matches this week, heading across town to face Marquette Friday before hosting the University of Chicago Sunday.
 
Friday's action against the Golden Eagles will get underway at an updated time of 6 p.m. from the Sprovieri Tennis Complex, with live stats being provided for fans to follow along with the action. The stats link can be found on the MKE website.
 
Sunday, the Panthers welcome the Maroons to River Glen Elite, the home of MKE Tennis, which 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 and the start time is set for 10 a.m.
 
Third-year head coach Mark Goldin and his team had to battle through and overcome numerous injuries a year ago, finishing with an 8-17 overall mark that yielded a strong finish - knocking off third-seeded Oakland in the Horizon League Championships before falling in the semifinals to eventual league champion YSU. The Panthers also added a historic result, posting MKE's first-ever win over Marquette with a 4-3 decision in February. The team is also coming off a very successful fall campaign, finishing with cumulative records of 24-15 as a team in singles action for the fall and 18-9 in doubles play.
 
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.
 
2026 UPDATE
The Panthers are 1-4 following their win over Chicago State last week, which was followed by defeats at the hands of Illinois State (5-2) Saturday and Northern Illinois (6-1) Sunday.
 
Nel Van Hout continues to be an early-season bright spot, posting a 3-0 week in singles play to run her win streak to five consecutive dating back to the fall. She won at #1 against Chicago State 7-6 (7-4), 7-5 and also against Illinois State 61-63. She closed out the weekend with a win at #2 singles, knocking off Northern Illinois 7-6, 6-2. The 3-0 week moves her to 11-1 overall on the season.
 
In doubles play, Nadiia Konieva and Sara Simonova have become a force at No. 2, going 3-1 so far this spring season.
 
SCOUTING THE OPPONENTS
MARQUETTE: Milwaukee and Marquette have been meeting regularly for much of the past two decades, with the Golden Eagles unbeaten in the series … until last year.
 
The Panthers won the doubles point 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 at 4-3.
 
Other recent matchups have been close as well, however, with MKE just missing a win two years ago 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 2-5 start and will also play Chicago Saturday. Their wins came against IU Indy, 7-0, Jan. 31, and versus Western Illinois, 4-2, back on Jan. 24. The 2025-26 campaign will mark the first for Brett Barnett as head coach. Barnett is the sixth head coach in program history and takes over for Jud Shaufler, who served as the director of tennis the last two seasons and oversaw both the men's and women's programs. He led the team to a 3-19 mark a year ago. Elena Duva leads the team with seven singles wins (7-2).
 
CHICAGO: Milwaukee was a perfect 3-0 all-time against the University of Chicago until last year, when a 6-1 decision snapped the three-match streak.
 
The Maroons are 2-1 this spring, coming off back-to-back 7-0 victories over Roosevelt (Feb. 1) and DePauw (Feb. 8). Chicago is an NCAA Division III member and is one of the top-ranked programs in the country this season, sitting at No. 2 in the most recent ITA team rankings. They are coming off a season in which they played all the way to the NCAA Tournament quarterfinals before being eliminated to finish 22-2 overall. In the process, the team also captured its fourth consecutive University Athletic Association regular-season title. That followed a stretch of playing for the national title for the third year in a row, earning the 2024 NCAA Championship. Matt Brisotti is now the interim head coach for the program.
 
ROSTER MAKEUP
The current roster comes from an extensive background of eight different countries and will consist of seven returners, one sophomore transfer, and one freshman. Leading the way for the returners is Nadiaa Konieva, who last season was named All-Horizon League Second Team following a campaign in which she stepped up to play No. 1 singles as well as continuing her role as a part of the No. 1 doubles squad. Konieva led the Panthers in doubles victories with 16 and finished just one off the team lead in total victories with 25 (nine singles wins).
 
Emilia Durska concluded the campaign with a 14-13 singles record and a 12-18 doubles ledger, with her 26 total victories tied for the team lead. Durska competed from No. 2 through No. 5 in singles play and No. 2/No. 3 in doubles. Nikola Nikolajeva put together a stellar first season with the Panthers, tying for the overall team lead in victories with 26. She finished with a 12-10 record in singles play as well as a 14-9 mark in doubles action, which was played mostly at No. 2 singles and the majority of the year at No. 1 doubles before an injury slowed her near the end of the spring slate.

FALL FESTIVITIES
The team is coming off a very successful fall 2025 campaign, competing at the Gopher Invitational, the Warhawk Fall Invite, and the Horizon League Individual Championships. Newcomer Nel Van Hout led the way, combining for 18 victories – going 8-1 in singles and 10-2 in doubles action. Emilia Durska was second with 12 total wins (4 singles/8 doubles). Nadiia Konieva and Nikola Nikolajeva were each 5-2 in singles, while Sara Simonova was 7-2 in doubles.
 
The Panthers went 24-15 as a team in singles action for the fall; 18-9 in doubles play.
 
HOME SWEET HOME
The Panthers have been very solid at home of late, going 32-18 over the past five-plus years, including a 10-3 mark in 2021.
 
UP NEXT
The Panthers remain at home for the next two outings, hosting UIC Friday (12 p.m. start) and St. Thomas Sunday (11 a.m. start).