Valparaiso University women’s tennis seniors Kathleen Hebble (Sellersburg, Ind. / Silver Creek) and Paige Heuer (Munster, Ind. / Munster) teamed up for a victory at No. 1 doubles on Saturday in Indianapolis. The triumph marked the highlight of 4-0 loss to Dayton.

How It Happened

• Hebble and Heuer won their match 6-3 over Marlys Bridham and Mattea Kilstofte.
• The Flyers prevailed at No. 2 and No. 3 doubles to capture the doubles point. Mandy Marchant and Jade Kawamoto picked up a 6-2 win over Meg Modesto (Chesterton, Ind. / Chesterton) and Dao Sysouvanh (Sun Prairie, Wis. / Sun Prairie) at No. 2, while Natalie Allen and Alex Townsend won 6-1 at No. 3.
• The two teams played a fourth doubles match, with Valpo freshman Jordan Kopfer (Eagan, Minn. / Eastview) and junior Erin Staal (Grand Haven, Mich. / Grand Haven) coming away with a 6-4 victory.
• Heuer dropped her match to Townsend 6-2, 6-4 at No. 2 singles, while Modesto lost to Kilstofte 6-0, 6-4 at No. 3.
• Natalie Allen defeated Randi Wind (Park Ridge, Ill. / Maine South) 6-3, 6-3 at No. 6 singles.
• Since the Flyers had locked up the victory, the remaining singles matches did not finish. Hebble had bounced back after dropping the first set 6-2 to take the second set 6-4 at No. 2 singles.
• Sysouvahn was up 5-4 in her second set after dropping Set 1 6-2 at No. 4 singles. At No. 5, Kopfer lost the first set 6-3 and trailed the second set 4-3 when the match was called.

Inside the Match

• Hebble and Heuer bettered their record to 7-6 on the season with the win. They are 2-2 in the fall with solid wins over Dayton and Western Michigan.
• The Crusaders drop to 0-4 as a team with the defeat, while Dayton lifts its record to 4-3.
• Dayton has played four straight matches against Indiana schools, falling to Ball State before capturing wins over IUPUI, Butler and Valpo. The Crusaders were the second Horizon League school on Dayton’s schedule as the Flyers beat Northern Kentucky 4-2 on Jan. 28.

Next Up

Valpo’s next match will occur on Saturday, Feb. 18 as the Crusaders clash with Evansville at Lakeland Tennis Academy. The start time is slated for 9 a.m. Evansville is 1-3 on the season with a win over Murray State and losses to Purdue, Austin Peay and Indiana.