The Valparaiso University women’s tennis team dug deep after dropping the doubles point on Sunday afternoon at The Courts of Northwest Indiana, rallying to top Ferris State 5-2 and garner the squad’s first victory on the young season. Valpo prevailed on five of the six singles courts including a pair of three-set battles en route to the victory. Claire Czerwonka (Kenosha, Wis. / Saint Joseph Catholic Academy) became the first Valpo player since 2009 to crack the program’s all-time Top 10 in career singles victories.

How It Happened

• The top doubles tandem of Claire and Olivia Czerwonka (Kenosha, Wis. / St. Joseph Catholic Academy) picked up a 6-4 victory at the top spot, but Valpo dropped the remaining doubles matches and found itself facing an uphill climb early on.
• Olivia rolled to a win in her singles matches, downing Isabela Paixao 6-2, 6-2 at the No. 2 position. Demi Jhaveri also put together a pair of one-sided sets, besting Patricia Gomez 6-0, 6-2 at sixth singles.
• Isabella Schoolcraft fended off Brittany Lavenant 6-2, 7-5 in a competitive second set to secure a sweep at No. 5 singles. That helped Valpo gain a commanding 3-1 edge in the match with three courts still in action.
• The Bulldogs (0-3) took the No. 4 singles match, and the overall outcome hinged on two three-set affairs with Valpo needing to win at least one to capture the victory.
• Amanda Tabanera provided the clincher with a 6-4, 4-6, 6-2 win over Sophie Davettila at No. 3. At the No. 1 position, Claire bounced back from a narrow defeat in the second set to top Morgan Waller 6-4, 6-7(11-13), 6-1.

Inside the Match

• Claire bolstered her career singles win total to 38, all coming in the upper portion of Valpo’s lineup against quality competition. With that win, Claire cracked the Top 10 in program history in career singles victories, moving into a ninth-place tie with Charmaine Stanislaw (2002-2006) and Kim Sajevic (2005-2009). She became the first Valpo player to crack that Top 10 in 12 years as Sajevic was the most recent entry into that group.
• Claire and Olivia earned their first doubles win of the season and their fourth as a tandem overall. This marked Olivia’s 14^th career doubles win in only her second collegiate season, while her older sister recorded her 41^st, moving into a tie for eighth in the program record book with Paige Heuer (2013-2017).
• Jhaveri picked up her first singles win of the season after notching 11 a year ago as a freshman.
• Schoolcraft picked up her 15^th career singles win and first of the young season.
• Tabanera entered the win column with her 17^th career singles triumph after notching a team-high 16 in her first collegiate campaign (2019-20).
• Olivia accrued her 14^th career singles win after grabbing a baker’s dozen as a rookie last year.

Up Next 

Valpo (1-2) will continue a string of home matches on Sunday, Feb. 14 vs. SIUE. The match is slated to begin at 11 a.m. at The Courts of NWI.