The UNI women’s tennis team closed out their season with a strong effort over the weekend. The 4th seeded Panthers worked their way into the finals of the Missouri Valley Conference tournament before being eliminated by Illinois State. This was particularly impressive as two years ago the women’s tennis team was close to being eliminated due to athletic department budget cuts. After winning a combined ten matches the last two years, this year’s squad went 19-4. The record is UNI’s best in 20-years. Panther’s coach Sachin Kirtane is even surprised by how well UNI did this year. Kirtane now wants the Panthers to build on this season’s success. He says his goal was to gain respect for the program, and he says he thinks they’ve done that and are now an elite program in the Valley.The future looks bright for UNI as they return seven of eight starters next year.
