The Valparaiso University women’s tennis team continued to pick up league accolades this week as sophomore Olivia Czerwonka (Kenosha, Wis. / Saint Joseph Catholic Academy) was named the Missouri Valley Conference Singles Player of the Week on Wednesday.

Czerwonka notched her team-leading seventh singles victory of the season on Saturday, topping Butler fifth-year senior Lauryn Padgett 6-2, 6-2 at No. 2 singles. The straight-set win marked one of the highlights of Valpo’s 5-2 setback to Big East opponent Butler. Czerwonka already owns 20 career singles wins as only a sophomore. 

This continues the team’s recent trend of MVC honors as Demi Jhaveri and Allison McConnell were named the MVC Doubles Team of the Week on March 17, while Valpo swept the league honors on March 10 when Olivia was named Singles Player of the Week and joined her sister Claire to form the Doubles Team of the Week. In total, Valpo has five MVC weekly accolades this season as Claire also earned Singles Player of the Week in mid-February.

Olivia now owns four career weekly honors as only a sophomore – a pair of MVC Singles Player of the Week nods and two MVC Doubles Team of the Week distinctions, one this season and one a year ago.

The most recent honor adds to a successful nonconference season that has seen Valpo already secure its highest spring-only win total in 14 years and compile the program’s longest winning streak since 2007. The Brown & Gold will open conference play this weekend with a trip to Iowa, visiting UNI on Friday at 3 p.m. and Drake on Saturday at 11 a.m. Live scoring is available for both matches and the links can be found on ValpoAthletics.com.