The UNI women’s tennis team faced off against the Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville (SIUE) Cougars on Sunday, Feb. 19. They then faced the Omaha Mavericks on Tuesday, Feb. 21. UNI lost a tight 4-3 battle with SIUE, but followed it up with a dominant 4-0 win over Omaha. The Panthers tied with Omaha back in September, but won this match handily.

UNI came into the matchup with SIUE 2-6-1, coming off a win over Saint Thomas. UNI is 2-4 in the spring season. SIUE came into the matchup 5-1 in the spring season, having won four matches in a row. Omaha came into their matchup with UNI 4-5 in the spring season, having won its last two matches. The matchup with Omaha concluded a three-match home stand for the Panthers.

UNI jumped out to a lead in the match with SIUE, winning two of the three doubles matches to win the doubles point. Andrijana Brkic and Kim Zizek took down their opponents 6-2, and Thaissa Moreira and Issa Sullivan won 6-4 to give the Panthers the point. In singles play, the Panthers picked up two wins. Brkic won again in sets of 6-4 and 7-5, and Zizek also repeated victory in sets of 6-2 and 6-1. Unfortunately, this left the Panthers short by one point as the Cougars won the other four singles matches, giving them the 4-3 match win.

The match against Omaha proved to be the bounce back the Panthers needed. The only victory the Mavericks recorded was one win in the doubles. The Panther duos of Brkic and Zizek and Moreira and Sullivan won again, both by a score of 6-3. In singles play, the Panthers seized control. Darta Dalecka knocked off her opponent in matching sets of 6-3. Lorena Cardoso won in a tight dual by sets of 7-5 and 6-4. Zizek dominated her opponent in sets of 6-0 and 6-2. This gave the Panthers the four points to win the match. Even though the other three games were still ongoing, the event was ended due to the result being clinched. In the three matches that were halted, two of the Panthers were leading, and Kanyanut Sudsaard was tied 2-2 in the first set. The win improved UNI to 3-7-1 for the combined fall and spring seasons.

UNI’s next two matchups are on a road trip to Wisconsin the weekend of March 3 and 4. They face Wisconsin-Whitewater on Friday and Milwaukee on Saturday.