After a long stretch of away matches to begin the season, traveling all across the midwest, the UNI tennis team finally got to participate in their home opener. Competing at the Black Hawk Tennis Club in Waterloo, UNI hosted the St. Thomas Tommies on Friday, as well as the Southern Illinois-Edwardsville (SIU) Cougars on Sunday. The Panthers took down St. Thomas, 6-1, but fell against the Cougars, 7-0.

The Panthers were nearly perfect against St. Thomas, winning all three of the doubles matches and dropping just one of the six singles matches. In doubles competition, Darta Dalecka and Lorena Cardoso stood out, taking down the Tommies’ top duo of Abigail Bremel and Regina Talavera without too much drama, 6-2. In singles competition, Cardoso also impressed, taking down Nicole Snezhko in straight sets, 6-3 and 6-0. Dalecka also did well, bouncing back from a first set loss against St. Thomas’ top player, Jannah El Nemr, to take the final two sets, both 6-4, and win the match.

It was a different story against undefeated SIU-Edwardsville, as the Cougars made it a tough Sunday afternoon for the Panthers. The bright spot of the day was when Dalecka bounced back from a 6-2 opening set loss against Jordan Schifano to take the final sets, 6-4 and 6-2, and ultimately win the match itself. That would be the only match win for UNI on the day.

With the weekend split, the Panthers move to 1-5 on the season. They will stay at home for their next two matches, hosting Northern Illinois this coming Saturday, as well as Grinnell on Sunday.