Saturday, April 12, 2003

The Valparaiso women's tennis team came from behind to defeat Oral Roberts 4-3 on Saturday afternoon in Macomb, Ill. for the Crusaders sixth straight victory and earn them a second place finish in the Mid-Continent Conference standings.

The Crusaders fell behind 3-0 before winning the final four singles matches to pull out the victory.

The Golden Eagles began the match sweeping the doubles point, winning first and second doubles by 8-5 scores and taking third doubles 8-3. Oral Roberts (8-10, 5-2 Mid-Con) then won at first and third doubles in straight sets to forge a 3-0 lead before the Valpo rally.

The Crusaders won four three-set matches, three after dropping opening sets, beginning at fourth singles where Jill Dierberg (St. Louis, Mo./Lutheran South H.S.) posted a 3-6, 6-1, 6-0 victory to get the Brown and Gold on the scoreboard. Monika Danko (Northfield, Ill./New Trier H.S.) lost the first set 6-0 but rallied to force a tie-break in the third, which she won 7-2 for a 0-6, 6-4, 7-6 victory to pull within a point of Oral Roberts.

Patricia Arakaki (Campo Grande, Brazil/LaPorte H.S., Ind.) tied the match at three with her victory. Down a set, the senior won a second set tiebreaker 7-4 on the way to a 2-6, 7-6, 6-1 win.

Freshman Charmane Stanislaw (Libertyville, Ill./Libertyville H.S.) closed the match out with a 6-4, 3-6, 6-2 win to give Valpo the number two seed in next weekend's Mid-Con Tournament.

Valpo (8-6, 6-1) will face Oral Roberts again on Friday in the tournament semifinals to be held at IUPUI. Match time will be determined early in the week.