Freshman Moira Silva (Houston, Texas / Houston Tennis Academy) wasted no time in making her presence felt in her first career conference-championship event. She earned a pair of victories in Flight 2 Singles while also advancing in Flight 1 Doubles alongside senior Olivia Czerwonka (Kenosha, Wis. / Saint Joseph Catholic Academy). The Silva showing highlighted the opening day of action for the Valparaiso University tennis team at the Missouri Valley Conference Individual Championships, hosted by Missouri State in Springfield, Mo.

How It Happened

• Silva and Czerwonka punched their ticket to the semifinal round of the Flight 1 Doubles bracket, getting the best of the Belmont tandem of Hladola/Trondson 8-5 in Friday’s quarterfinal match.
• The Beacons also boasted a tournament-opening victory in the Flight 3 Doubles bracket, where Amanda Tabanera (Houston, Texas / Houston Tennis Academy) and Mia Bertino (Lockport, Ill. / Joliet Catholic) teamed up for an 8-3 triumph over Bradley’s Martinez/Pukhina. Later in the day, Bertino/Tabanera engaged in a tight Flight 3 Doubles quarterfinal battle with Kreugel/Pschorr of Murray State and fell 8-5. Valpo’s Flight 2 doubles tandem dropped their match to Belmont.
• Silva secured her tournament-opening singles win over Missouri State’s Juliette Robinson. After Silva took the opening set 6-2, she advanced to the quarterfinal round by virtue of an injury default.
• That was just the start of the day for Silva, who moved into the semifinal round by later rolling past UIC’s Tamara Malazonia while dropping just one game – 6-1, 6-0.
• Valpo’s other singles victory on Friday came courtesy of Bertino, who bounced back from an opening-round defeat to UIC in Flight 5 Singles to win a consolation match over UNI’s Issa Sullivan 6-3, 6-3.
• Czerwonka had a challenging first-round match with Illinois State’s Tijana Zlatanovic, a battle between the last two MVC Players of the Year. The match delivered as it required all three sets to determine a victor with Czerwonka grabbing the opening set 6-2 before Zlatanovic rallied to win the remaining sets 6-3, 6-4.
• In the Flight 3 Singles consolation draw, Tabanera engaged in a tight three-set battle with Bradley’s Kirstin Hailey, falling 4-6, 7-6(6), 10-6.

Inside the Matches

• Bertino is up to 27 career singles wins after her victory on Friday.
• Czerwonka’s double win boosted her career total to 53, a total that ranks fourth in program history. She needs one more to move into a tie for third with Whitney Chada (2003-2007, 54).
• As a tandem, Czerwonka and Silva are 8-1 on the season in doubles action.
• Silva’s singles success on Friday sustained her flawless start to her rookie season as she extended her record to 7-0.

Up Next

The second day of the MVC Individual Championships will get underway at 9 a.m. CT on Saturday morning in Springfield, Mo.