Feb. 13, 2008

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SCOUTING THIS WEEKENDS OPPONENTS

• The Panthers beat both UW-Milwaukee and UW-Green Bay 7-0 last year at home. UNI is 5-2 all-time against UW-Milwuakee, and have won four of the six contests against UW-Green Bay. Marquette leads the all-time series against UNI 4-1, but the schools have not played since 1988 season.

 

KANADE EARNS MVC ATHELTE OF THE WEEK HONORS

• University of Northern Iowa sophomore Sampada Kanade (Mumbai, India) earned State Farm Missouri Valley Conference women's tennis Athlete of the Week honors, the league announced on Tuesday Feb. 5.

Kanade was perfect, posting a 2-0 singles record along with a 2-0 doubles mark. She helped UNI cruise to a 2-0 overall mark with victories over UMKC (7-0) and Western Illinois (5-2). The sophomore earned a 6-1, 6-2 win against UMKC's Chelsea Horner and topped Western Illinois's Kim Lennartsson 6-1, 6-2 in No. 1 singles play. Kanade also teamed with Taynara Moraes to earn a pair of wins in the No. 1 doubles slot.

 

PANTHERS 2-0 FOR FOURTH STRAIGHT SEASON

• The UNI tennis team started its season 2-0 for the fourth consecutive year after winning its first two matches of the season against UMKC and Western Illinois. The Panthers did not drop a set in a 7-0 victory over UMKC, and held off Western Illinois, 5-2.

HOME COURT ADVANTAGE

• UNI has won 13 of its last 14 matches at the Black Hawk Tennis Club. The Panthers last loss came to No. 27 Wichita State on April 8, 2007. Since 2006, the Panthers are 20-4 on its home court.

 

CHASING HISTORY

• Meghana Paritala won her 76th career singles match against Akshara Reddy of UMKC 6-2, 6-0 on Feb. 2. Paritala is currently fourth on the all-time career wins list, and is only eight wins behind the Panthers all-time leader, Nancy Land. Teammate Carolina Hannes sits in fifth place on the all-time list with 72 career victories.

 

• Paritala and Hannes hold the second and seventh spots respectively on the Panthers career winning percentage in singles play. Paritala has won 70.7 percent of her matches and Hannes has been victorious in 66.6 percent of her matches. Robin Ross is the Panthers' all-time leader, winning 73.5 percent of her matches. 

 

PANTHER WOES

• Freshman Diana Mendez was the lone Panther to pick up a victory last week at in the Panthers spring season opener at the Hawkeye Invitational in Iowa City, Iowa. Mendez beat Iowa's Kayla Berry 6-4, (4-6), 10-6. UNI lost every match on the first day of competition against Iowa in doubles play and Iowa State in singles. The Panthers lost six out of seven singles matches to Iowa on the final day of competition and all three doubles matches against Iowa State.

 

KIRTANE ADDS FIRST PLAYER TO 2008-2009 ROSTER

• Talia Jang-Stewart (Calgary, Alberta, Canada) signed a National Letter-of-Intent to play tennis for the Panthers in the 2008-2009 season. She is a top junior Canadian tennis player and will be able to contribute to the Panthers' squad next season.

 

SECONDS ALL AROUND

• Two UNI tennis players finished second at the Missouri Valley Individual Championships in Omaha, Neb., on Sept. 30. Carolina Hannes was runner-up in No. 5 singles, losing to Marie Caujolle of Indiana State 0-6, 6-3, 6-3. Freshman Diana Mendez lost in the No. 6 finals to Tanja Hrovatic of Illinois State 6-2, 6-2.

 

• The Panthers also brought home two runner-up finishes in doubles play at the MVC Individual Championships. The duo of Sampada Kanade and Taynara Moraes lost in No. 1 doubles play to Indiana State's Jennifer Migan and Joanne Schickerling, 8-3. The other Panther team to finish second was Meghana Paritala and Diana Mendez in No. 3 doubles play. Carolyne Parent and Tanja Hrovatic beat the Panther squad, 8-3.

 

PANTHERS DOUBLE TEAM WINS AT MINNESOTA

• The doubles team of Diana Mendez and Ashton Schwerin won the Star Doubles Flight at the Minnesota Invitational on Sept. 16. The freshman duo beat Nellie Bloomberg and Jenny Sondreal of South Dakota State, 8-2.

 

HEAD COACH Sachin Kirtane

 

Sachin Kirtane begins his sixth season as the University of Northern Iowa's women's tennis coach. In five seasons at the helm, Kirtane has turned the program around, going 17-6 last season. Kirtane has an overall record of 62-40 as the Panther head coach. He ranks second in both career wins (62) and all-time winning percentage (.607). Kirtane needs 21 victories to catch all-time wins leader Pete Mazula. Mazula also holds the all-time winning percentage mark (.664).

 

Kirtane has guided the Panthers to three consecutive winning seasons, including a 19-4 record in the 2005 season. During the 2005 campaign, Kirtane led the Panthers to their first Missouri Valley Conference championship match only to lose regular season champion Illinois State.

 

In 2007, Kirtane led the Panthers to a second place finish in the Missouri Valley Conference with a 6-2 league record. Kirtane holds a 16-10 conference mark the past three seasons after 1-8 records in his first two seasons.

 

His second season saw the team achieve the goal he had set forth of simply to, "get better." The team, while boasting only one senior, went 7-12 overall.

 

From 1998-2002, Kirtane was the assistant men's and women's tennis coach at Valdosta State University. He helped lead both teams to the finals of the Gulf South Conference Championships in 1998-99. In 2000, the men's team was ranked fourth in the nation. The women's team won the conference title and reached the semi-finals of the NCAA Division II Championship in Pensacola, Fla. In 2001, the men's team was ranked second in the nation and won its second consecutive conference title.

 

Kirtane graduated from VSU in 1998 with a marketing degree. In 2000, he earned his master's from VSU in business administration.

 

Kirtane was a scholarship athlete for VSU's tennis team from 1994-98. He was awarded all-conference and all-America honors. He also was a member of the Student Advisory Committee. He participated in the Division II National Tournament and won the Gulf South Conference championship in 1995. He was named the team's Most Valuable Player in 1996. Kirtane was a member of the team that finished fourth in the national tournament in 1994-95. In 1992-93, he played professionally. He also played in the ITF International Junior Ranking Tournaments in 1990-91.