MILWAUKEE – After claiming just the second regular-season title in the history of the program, the Milwaukee women's tennis team has earned the No. 2 seed in the Horizon League Championships and has earned a bye from the opening round of the event. The team will wait to see the results of the quarterfinals before hitting the court for the first time on Saturday.
 
The championships will be held at Lindner Family Tennis Center in Cincinnati, Ohio from Friday through Sunday. The facility is home of the Cincinnati Open and features a total of 31 courts, including five permanent stadiums. Built in 1981 and expanded many times since then, Center Court has a capacity of 11,600. The name pays tribute to the family of a former tournament sponsor, Carl Lindner, Jr.
 
The Panthers finished at 3-2 in league play, earning a share of the regular-season title for just the second time in program history and the first in 12 years. The team will await the winner of No. 3 Youngstown (also 3-2) and No. 6 Northern Kentucky (who went 1-4). Both that match Friday and Saturday's semifinal will be played at 2 p.m. CT. The Horizon League will be providing live stats of all matches and the championship will also stream on ESPN+ Sunday. All links are posted to the Milwaukee website.
 
Milwaukee is 9-24 in the all-time series against YSU, with its 5-2 win this season (April 3) snapping what was an eight-match win streak the Penguins had in the series. The two programs have seen numerous matchups in the postseason (YSU leads there 6-1), including three of the last four seasons, with MKE falling in the championship match in 2022.

The Norse defeated the Panthers to end the season for the program in the 2024 Horizon League Tournament (L, 4-3) and made it back-to-back wins in the regular season in both 2025 and 2026. MKE still holds the upper hand in the all-time series at 7-6.
 
Horizon League Championship Central

2026 Tournament Bracket
 
SCOUTING THE POSSIBLE OPPONENTS
YOUNGSTOWN STATE: Thirteenth-year head coach Mickael Sopel has done an impressive job turning the Penguins into one of the most respected programs in the Midwest. Sopel, a two-time Horizon League Coach of the Year, has led the Penguins to eight league postseason titles, appeared in eight NCAA tournaments and have reached the conference postseason title match nine times in the 11 years it has been contested since his arrival at YSU. They went 5-1 in league play in 2025 to finish second, going 14-8 overall with the season coming to an end against Michigan in the NCAA Tournament after defeating Cleveland State in the Horizon League Tournament championship.
 
The 'Guins are 10-11 this spring, closing the regular season with two wins in their final three matches to also share the regular-season crown at 3-2. Hanna Telzynska (18-15) and Yeseniia Ovcharova (17-16) lead the way in singles victories, with Lorena Cedeno (16-10) and Yoana Dudova (14-13) tops in doubles wins.
 
NORTHERN KENTUCKY: The Norse went 8-10 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 Friday at 3-11 overall and went 1-4 in conference action, with a win in its regular-season finale snapping what was a seven-match losing streak. Head coach Brian Nester is in his 14^th season with the program.
 
HORIZON HISTORY
Prior to 2026, the Panthers had claimed one regular-season Horizon League Championship in program history which came in 2013-14, going 7-1 that spring.
 
The team is 13-36 in the Horizon League Championship all-time, but did go 2-1 three years ago in reaching the championship match for the first time in program history. The team topped No. 3 Oakland, 4-2, a year ago before falling to Youngstown State in the semifinals.
 
REGULAR SEASON RECAP
The Panthers had several impressive overall performances during the regular season, highlighted by newcomer Nel Van Hout. Van Hout currently leads the team in victories on both the singles (21-5) and doubles sides (19-9). With one more doubles victory, she would be the first Panther to record 20-plus victories in both singles and doubles since the 2013-14 campaign when both
Kristin Kurer (25-4/21-5) and Alysa Straub (25-10/22-13) achieved the feat. Her 21 singles victories are also the most since that season and are currently tied for 10^th-most in a single season in program history. Her 40 combined victories are also currently tied for No. 10 on the all-time single-season list.
 
Both Van Hout (at No. 1 singles) and Nadiia Konieva (at No. 2 singles) each rolled through the Horizon League regular-season slate at a perfect 5-0 in their matches. Those five wins are part of an 18-7 singles slate for Konieva, giving her 64 singles wins in her career – currently in fourth place on the career list. Her 15-9 doubles mark in 2026 ups her career doubles total to 66 wins, currently fifth in program history. Her combined total of 130 (66/64) gives her the fifth most victories in the history of the program.
 
Sara Simonva heads into postseason play with the second-most doubles wins on the roster and, at 18-7, now has 57 career doubles victories. That total currently sits seventh in program history.

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 Nadiia 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.
 
THE COACH
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.

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 33-20 over the past five-plus years, including a 10-3 mark in 2021.
 
UP NEXT
If the Panthers win Saturday, the team will advance to the Horizon League Championship Sunday, with the winner representing the conference at the NCAA Tournament.