The Northern Iowa women’s tennis team kicked off their 2020 season with a dual match against the University of Nebraska-Omaha in Des Moines over the weekend. The neutral-site matchup faired to be tough on the Panthers, as they dropped their season-opening match.

Freshman Kim Zizek and junior Madeline Doherty both earned singles wins for the Panthers. Zizek scored 6-2, 2-6 and 6-2 in her matchup in the third spot against Natalie Lorentz of UNO. Doherty lost her first set 1-6, but rallied to defeat her opponent with scores of 6-2 and 6-4 to seal the victory.

Other Panthers were able to put up hard-fought matches but would ultimately fall to their opponents. Freshman Thaissa Moreira fell 6-2, 7-6 (7-4) and 1-0 (10-6), junior Valentia Caro fell 7-6 (7-5), 6-3 in her number 6 match and freshman Emma Carr dropped her No. 2 single match 7-6 (7-4), 6-1. Northern Iowa as a team were also swept in the doubles point.

Up next, the Panther women will travel to the same neutral site in Des Moines for their match against Iowa State University on Saturday, January 26. The match is scheduled to begin at 11 a.m.