The Valparaiso University tennis team closed out the nonconference portion of the season in victorious fashion, using four singles victories to edge Omaha 4-3 on Saturday afternoon at The Courts of Northwest Indiana. The Beacons closed a successful nonconference slate with a 9-6 record as Missouri Valley Conference play cranks up next week.

How It Happened

• The No. 2 tandem in the Valpo doubles lineup of Sydney Stone (Brisbane, Australia / Tyler JC) and Jolene Fernandes (Calgary, Alberta, Canada) defeated Omaha’s Keegan VanPelt and Summer Shannon 6-3. Valpo dropped No. 3 dubs, and the No. 1 Omaha team edged out a 7-5 win at the top spot to give the guests an early 1-0 lead in the match.  
• The most one-sided singles match was at No. 4, where Fernandes cruised to a 6-1, 6-2 victory over VanPelt, dropping only three games along the way.
• After prevailing on a tiebreak in the opening set, Olivia Czerwonka (Kenosha, Wis. / Saint Joseph Catholic Academy) ran off six straight games in Set 2 at No. 2 Singles, winning the match 7-6(2), 6-0 over Paula Arcarons.
• The Beacons boosted the match lead to 3-1 when Stone polished off a 6-3, 6-4 win over Colby Kelley at No. 5.
• The No. 3 singles match went the way of the Mavericks to make it 3-2, but Lillian Kelly (Fullerton, Calif. / Fullerton Union) stepped up at No. 6 singles to rally from a set down and win 4-6, 6-2, 6-0 over Lillian Tiemeyer. In the process, she not only won the battle of the Lillians, but also clinched the match for her team.
• The No. 1 singles match was a thriller, but Moira Silva (Houston, Texas / Houston Tennis Academy) was edged out by Zoe Adkins in a three-setter that went the distance, 2-6, 6-2, 7-6(4).

Inside the Match

• Czerwonka boosted her singles win total to 20 this season and 83 in her collegiate career. She advanced into a tie for fourth in single-season program history with her 20^th victory, joining Kate Evangelist’s 2004-2005 campaign.
• Czerwonka, the program recordholder for career singles wins, moved into sole possession of fourth in school history (men’s and women’s), surpassing Dave Bacalla (2013-2017).
• Fernandes (15) and Stone (12) both boosted their season win totals in singles play, while Kelly stepped up in her dual match debut, coming up with a big victory as she was inserted into the singles lineup for the first time this season.
• This was Valpo’s seventh match decided by the slimmest of margins at 4-3 this season. Valpo is – fittingly enough – 4-3 in those matches.
• Valpo is already only two wins away from tying the program’s highest win total since 2007.

Up Next

The Beacons (9-6) will host Drake on Saturday, March 23 at 2 p.m. to begin conference play.