The Valparaiso University women’s tennis team got off to a strong start on Sunday afternoon at the Valpo Tennis Complex by collecting the doubles point, but visiting Bradley rebounded for a 5-2 victory in the regular season finale. Sophomore Olivia Czerwonka (Kenosha, Wis. / Saint Joseph Catholic Academy) continued her strong play, accounting for Valpo’s singles victory.  

How It Happened

• Demi Jhaveri (Westlake, Ohio / Westlake) and Allison McConnell (Westland Mich, Churchill) made quick work of their opponents at No. 3 doubles with a 6-1 victory in the first match to finish. That placed Valpo in good position to collect the doubles point. The Braves (10-6, 3-2) prevailed at No. 2 doubles, so the point hinged on the match at the top spot.
• After seeing their lengthy doubles winning streak come to a close on Saturday in a match that went to a tiebreak, Olivia and Claire Czerwonka (Kenosha, Wis. / Saint Joseph Catholic Academy) bounced back with a 6-2 victory over Victoria Sanchez Bronzetti and Sandra Maletin.
• Olivia capped off her perfect singles weekend with a straight-set success at No. 2, topping Bozana Lojpur 6-3, 6-3.
• Valpo was very much in the match as several other singles showdowns were tightly contested, but the Braves did enough to escape with the win. The lone three-set battle utilized a third-set tiebreak as Mia Bertino (Lockport, Ill. / Joliet Catholic) fell just shy with Bradley’s Natalia Barbery prevailing 2-6, 6-2, 1-0(6) at No. 5 singles.

Inside the Match

• Olivia upped her team-high singles win total to 11 while finishing conference play with an impressive 4-1 singles mark. She enjoyed a perfect weekend, sweeping her matches in straight sets both days, and has won three in a row. The sophomore already holds 24 career singles victories.
• The Czerwonka sisters finished the regular season at 4-1 in No. 1 doubles matches with the only loss coming on a tiebreak. They are 10-1 over their last 11 matches.
• Claire continued her climb in the program record book by securing her 52^nd career doubles win. She now holds sole possession of third place, is two wins away from second and three away from the program record.
• The No. 1 doubles win for the Czerwonka sisters came over a pair that featured Maletin, a two-time MVC All-Select team choice and 2019 All-MVC performer in doubles.
• Olivia’s No. 2 singles win came against Lojpur, the 2019 Flight 2 MVC Singles champion, a 2019 All-MVC performer and the 2019 Freshman of the Year.
• Jhaveri and McConnell improved to 4-4 as a pair with their win.

Up Next 

Valpo (6-12, 1-4 MVC) will head to Springfield, Mo. for the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament this coming weekend. Valpo will meet host Missouri State in an opening-round match on Friday at 10 a.m.