Valparaiso University tennis sophomore Moira Silva (Houston, Texas / Houston Tennis Academy) was recognized by the Missouri Valley Conference for already the second time this season on Wednesday, this time earning the league’s Singles Player of the Week award.

Silva went a perfect 2-0 at No. 1 singles this weekend, edging Bellarmine's Ekaterina Tikhonko 6-3, 4-6, 7-6(1) on Friday before dropping just two games in a 6-1, 6-1 rout of St. Thomas' Jannah ElNemr on Sunday. Both matches occurred at The Courts of Northwest Indiana in Valparaiso, with the hosts dropping Friday's match 4-3 before bouncing back to beat the Tommies by that same score on Sunday. Silva's success helped her improve to 12-3 in singles and 7-0 in dual matches this season.

As only a sophomore, Silva already owns 30 career singles wins. Her contributions on Sunday helped Valpo top a St. Thomas team that was off to a 3-0 start. In Sunday’s match, she was the first singles player off the court after a thrilling win on Friday. In the match against Bellarmine, Silva came from behind to win the first set 6-3 after dropping the first three games. She built up a 4-1 lead in the third set before Tikhonko strung together four straight games to move ahead 5-4 and create a chance to serve for the match. Silva broke to extend the match, then both players held to create a 6-6 tie and send the third set into a tiebreak. Silva dominated the tiebreak 7-1 to win a lengthy match. 

This represents Silva’s fourth career MVC weekly award as she previously earned the singles honor on March 22 of last season. She was also part of the MVC Doubles Team of the Week on Feb. 15, 2023 and Jan. 25, 2024 alongside Olivia Czerwonka.