Seniors Kathleen Hebble (Sellersburg, Ind. / Silver Creek) and Paige Heuer (Munster, Ind. / Munster) notched an impressive victory at No. 1 doubles as the Valparaiso University women’s tennis team opened 2017 with a 7-0 loss to Western Michigan on Saturday in Kalamazoo, Mich.

How It Happened

• Hebble and Heuer took down Tracy Kuhle and Melina Lyubomirova, defeating a duo that entered the day with a 6-2 record.
• Freshman Jordan Kopfer (Eagan, Minn. / Eastview) dropped a tightly-contested match at No. 5 singles to Barbare Eristavi 6-3, 7-5, winning the most games of any Valpo singles player on Saturday.
• Hebble fell in her No. 1 singles showdown with Lyubomirova 6-3, 6-0, while Heuer was on the losing end of a 6-1, 6-1 match with Kuhle.
• Sophomore Meg Modesto (Chesterton, Ind. / Chesterton) succumbed to Olivia Myers 6-2, 6-1 at No. 3 singles. Freshman Dao Sysouvanh (Sun Prairie, Wis. / Sun Prairie) was on the wrong side of a 6-2, 6-1 match at No. 4.
• Senior Morgan Paras (Indianapolis, Ind. / Bishop Chatard) dropped a 6-1, 6-0 match to Gabriela Slavova at No. 6.
• Kopfer and Paras put together a strong showing at No. 3 doubles, losing the match to Western Michigan’s Barbare Eristavi and Slavova to allow the Broncos to capture the doubles point.
• Modesto and Sysouvanh teamed up at No. 2 doubles and fell in their match to Myers and Denise Azcui 6-0.

Inside the Match

• Hebble and Heuer upped their record to 6-4 with the victory.  
• The triumph over Kuhle and Lyubomirova was significant based on the Western Michigan duo’s credentials. Kuhle was second-team all-MAC and Team MVP a year ago after notching a place on the MAC all-Tournament team in 2014-15. Lyubomirova was named to the MAC all-Tournament team last year and teamed up with Kuhle to win four straight MAC Doubles Team of the Week awards.
• The victory for Hebble and Heuer allowed them to earn redemption for a 7-6 (7-4) loss to the same Bronco pair last season.

Next Up

The Crusaders (0-1) hold their home opener on Saturday, Jan. 21 at 2 p.m. against DePaul. The match will take place at the Courts of NWI.