Feb. 20, 2008
Complete Release in PDF Format 
The University of Northern Iowa women's tennis team will host three matches this weekend at the Black Hawk Tennis Club against South Dakota State, Chicago State and Eastern Illinois.
SCOUTING THIS WEEKENDS OPPONENTS
• The Panthers (4-1) beat all three teams at home last season. UNI swept South Dakota State, 7-0, last season and is 5-0 all-time against the Jackrabbits. South Dakota State is 0-6 on the season.
• The Panthers also swept Chicago State, 7-0, last year. UNI is 5-2 all-time against Chicago State. Chicago State is 0-4 this season.
• Eastern Illinois will come to the Black Hawk Tennis Club with a perfect 5-0 record and leads the all-time series against UNI, 8-7. UNI held off Eastern Illinois last year, 4-3.
PARITALA EARNS MVC ATHELTE OF THE WEEK HONORS
• University of Northern Iowa senior Meghana Paritala (Secunderaba, India) was named State Farm Missouri Valley Conference women's tennis Athlete of the Week, the league announced Tuesday. She is the second Panther this season to earn Athlete of the Week honors.
• Paritala finished 3-0 in No. 1 singles play during a three match road trip in Wisconsin this weekend. She helped the Panthers finish 2-1 in dual meet play with victories over Wisconsin-Milwaukee, 6-1, and Wisconsin-Green Bay 7-0. In UNI's first dual meet loss of the season against Marquette she was the lone Panthers to win, beating Erin Watkins 6-3, 6-3.
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.
ROAD TRIP
• The Panthers finished 2-1 on its three match road trip in Wisconsin last weekend. Marquette handed UNI its first loss of the 2008 season, 6-1. Senior Meghana Paritala was the lone Panther to pick up a victory in No. 1 singles play over Erin Watkins 6-3, 6-3.
• The Panthers were able to pick up two road victories over Wisconsin-Milwaukee, 6-1, and Wisconsin-Green Bay, 7-0.
PANTHERS 4-0 FOR FOURTH STRAIGHT SEASON
• The UNI tennis team started its season 4-0 for the fourth consecutive year. The Panthers started its season winning two home matches over UMKC, 7-0 and Western Illinois 6-1, and rolled past Wisconsin-Milwaukee, 6-1, and Wisconsin-Green Bay, 7-0, to improve to 4-0 on the season.
CHASING HISTORY
• Meghana Paritala won her 79th career singles match against Erin Watkins of Marquette 6-3, 6-3 on Feb. 17. Paritala is currently fourth on the all-time career wins list, and is only five wins behind the Panthers all-time leader, Nancy Land. Teammate Carolina Hannes sits in fifth place on the all-time list with 74 career victories.
• Paritala and Hannes hold the second and seventh spots respectively on the Panthers career winning percentage in singles play. Paritala has won 71.1 percent of her matches and Hannes has been victorious in 67.2 percent of her matches. Robin Ross is the Panthers' all-time leader, winning 73.5 percent of her matches.
DOUBLE TROUBLE
• Meghana Paritala and Carolina Hannes are currently sixth and tied for seventh on UNI's all-time career doubles wins list. Paritala has 65 career wins playing doubles and Hannes is tied with three other Panthers with 60 career wins
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 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.
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.
GONZALEZ-GARRIDO JOINS PANTHERS
• Laia Gonzalez-Garrido (Vinaros, Spain) is coach Sachin Kirtane's newest addition to the Panther squad for the spring season. Gonzalez-Garrido has been ranked as high as No. 120 in the open rankings in Spain. She has a lot of experience playing tournaments all over Europe and is one of the top players in Spain. She will help make the Panther line-up a lot deeper and stronger, Kirtane said.
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.
MORAES FINISHES FOURTH AT MINNESOTA
• Junior Taynara Moraes was the Panthers' top singles finisher at the Minnesota Invitational, placing fourth in the Gold Singles Flight. Moraes lost her third-place match to Jackie Sperling of Minnesota 6-4, 6-3.
PANTHERS OPEN FALL SEASON AT DRAKE
• Freshman Diana Mendez started her Panther career on the right foot going 2-1 during the Lloyd Stockstad Invitational in Des Monies Sept. 7th and 8th. Mendez rolled past Drake's Sarah Plowman and Kari Sloboth before being knocked out in the Class B semifinals by Erin Karonis of Iowa State 6-2, 6-1.
• Senior Meghana Paritala beat Chrissy Dercuin of Iowa State 6-3, 6-2 in her season opener, but was knocked out in the second round of Class A play by Nebraska's Ashley Finnegan 6-4, 6-3. Paritala was the defending champion at the Lloyd Stockstad Invitational.
• Senior Carolina Hannes bounced back after dropping her opening match to Karonis of Iowa State 6-1, 6-1, and was able to reach the finals of the Class B consolation bracket.
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 64-41 as the Panther head coach. He ranks second in both career wins (64) and all-time winning percentage (.609). 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.
