ANN ARBOR, Mich. – For the first time in program history, the Milwaukee tennis team earned a Runner-Up finish in the 2022 Horizon League Tennis Championships. Milwaukee nearly pulled off another upset and battled throughout the entire dual, but the No. 2 Youngstown State Penguins came out on top 4-3 and claim the league title.
The nail-biting match started right from the get-go beginning with doubles play. YSU claimed the No. 3 doubles line, but sophomore duo
Greta Carbone and
Iva Stejskalova quickly evened the best-of-three at one each with a 6-2 victory over the 'Guins No. 1 Cecilia Rosas and Julia Marko. The battle from the No. 2 line between
Mayya Perova and
Avery Durham and YSU's Jessica Stanmore and Lili Minich went back and forth, but the 'Guins came out on top, 7-5.
"I knew this was going to be a 4-3 match as soon the finals were set, and I felt pretty confident that we would get to four if we got the doubles point," said Panther head coach
Jason Potthoff. "Greta and Iva played maybe their best doubles match of the year, and Mayya and Avery were so close to pulling it off."
In singles, Youngstown State took a 2-0 lead after a win from the No. 4 line, but the Black & Gold continued to fight, earning straight set wins from No. 2 Perova and No. 5 Durham. Perova defeated Eliska Marsarikova 6-2, 6-4 while Durham dropped just four games total, winning 6-3, 6-1.
"The thing that stood out the most today was how unbelievably hard we competed in singles," Potthoff added. "I knew that Mayya, Nikki, and Avery were the matchups where we had the biggest advantages, but for those three to win so comprehensively was really impressive."
After a straight set victory from Youngstown's All-League First Team Cecilia Rosas over MKE's Carbone, the Penguins took the 3-2 advantage, but senior
Nikki Milner squared the dual at three points each with a straight set victory of her own, winning 7-5, 6-2 over Julia Marko.
With tensions running high on both sides, Milwaukee and Youngstown State cheered on
Anika Tylek and Lili Minich for the league title. Tylek dropped the first set, 6-4, but roared back with a 6-2 second set victory and force a third set. The senior fought tooth and nail in the third, but came up shy, falling 6-2 in the final set.
"In the end, to have a senior on the court battling for the last point with her teammates lined up on the next court living through every point with her, that's what this team is built upon. They left it all on the court, just like I knew they would. It's truly an honor to be their coach."
Milwaukee wrapped up the season 10-14 and 3-3 in league play. This marked the third time in four seasons that Milwaukee made a tournament appearance, and the first time the Panthers made it to the Championship round.
