A season of cliffhanging matches continued for the Valparaiso University tennis team on Saturday afternoon as the Beacons were on the wrong end of a 4-3 score against UNI in a road match that occurred in Cedar Falls, Iowa. Valpo garnered three singles wins and one doubles victory in a match that came down to the wire.

How It Happened

• Valpo’s top doubles tandem of Olivia Czerwonka (Kenosha, Wis. / Saint Joseph Catholic Academy) and Moira Silva (Houston, Texas / Houston Tennis Academy) was victorious against Andrijana Brkic and Kim Zizek by a 6-2 score. However, the Panthers prevailed on the other two doubles courts to take the point.
• Demi Jhaveri (Westlake, Ohio / Westlake) earned a straight-set win at No. 3 singles, while Eleanor Chapman (East Sussex, England [Eastbourne College [UT Martin / Lipscomb]) did the same at No. 6. Jhaveri’s victory came 6-1, 6-4 over Zizek, while Chapman’s was 6-2, 6-2 over Kanyanut Sudsaard. UNI had a straight-set win at No. 2.
• The other three singles matches all required a third set to determine a victor. Valpo’s Amanda Tabanera (Valencia, Calif. / Valencia) achieved a 6-3, 3-6, 6-2 triumph at No. 4 against Lorena Cardoso, but UNI won a tight three-set affair at No. 1 that saw the Panthers take a close opening set 7-5.
• Eventually, the match came down to No. 5 singles, where UNI flipped the script on a 6-1 Valpo victory in Set 1 to eke out close wins in the remaining two sets 6-4, 6-4 to capture the team triumph.

Inside the Match

• Tabanera lifted her season win total to 12 and reached a career milestone with her 50^th singles success. She moved into sole possession of ninth in program history, surpassing Jill Dierberg (2002-2006).
• Czerwonka and Silva picked up their 16^th doubles win of the year, helping them climb into the top 10 in program history in single-season doubles victories. They are tied for ninth with Kate Kollarova (2001-2002) and Christina Scala (2001-2002).  
• The doubles win for Czerwonka was the 61^th of her career. That ranks second in program history behind only her sister Claire (72).
• Jhaveri obtained her 10^th singles win of the season and the 40^th of her career.
• This marked Valpo’s sixth straight match with a score of either 4-3 or 5-2. Overall this spring, nine of the team’s 12 matches have been 4-3 or 5-2 including six decided by the slimmest of margins. Valpo is 3-3 in matches dictated by a 4-3 score.

Up Next

The Beacons (10-6, 0-4) will close out the road trip on Sunday at 11 a.m. at Drake in Des Moines, Iowa. That will mark the final road match of the regular season prior to three straight home matchups.