A pair of Valparaiso University women’s tennis players received recognition on Wednesday as the Missouri Valley Conference unveiled its Scholar-Athlete honors for the 2017-18 season.

Sophomore Jordan Kopfer (Eagan, Minn. / Eastview) garnered MVC Scholar-Athlete First Team recognition, while fellow sophomore Dao Sysouvanh (Sun Prairie, Wis. / Sun Prairie) was a member of the Honorable Mention. A total of 11 players from the conference received First Team honors, while six others picked up Honorable Mention recognition.

Kopfer had a 4.0 GPA in high school and has continued her perfection in the classroom through her first three semesters of college, as she owns a 4.0 GPA in health science. Kopfer has nailed down seven singles wins and 12 doubles victories this season. She started the fall campaign by winning four of her first five matches. Kopfer teamed with Meg Modesto for a first-round doubles win over Evansville in the MVC Individual Championships on Oct. 7. She also accounted for Valpo's only victory on April 7 against MVC-leading Drake, teaming with Sysouvanh to prevail at third doubles. Kopfer won in both singles and doubles on April 15 at Saint Louis, accounting for Valpo's only two victories of the match.

Sysouvanh boasts a 3.44 GPA in civil engineering. She owns 10 singles wins and 10 doubles victories on the season. The Valpo sophomore started the fall season strong by winning three of her first four singles matches and her first three doubles matches. She also began the spring on a high note, winning three of her first four singles matches with all three victories coming against instate foes.

Sysouvanh picked up a straight-set win over a former conference foe on March 30, winning at fourth singles against Northern Kentucky. She gained her first MVC victory on April 8, coming from a set down for a three-set win over UNI.

The Crusaders will begin the MVC Championship on Friday at 1 p.m. against Stony Brook in Springfield, Mo.

2018 Missouri Valley Conference Women’s Tennis Scholar-Athlete First Team

Abbey Belote * Missouri State Sr. 3.75 Exercise & Movement Science

Alexa Brandt *% Bradley Sr. 3.65 Health Science

Summer Brills Drake Sr. 3.78 Broadcast News

Ana Carrion-Rodriguez Stony Brook Jr. 3.86 Political Science/Spanish Language & Literature

Valerija Gercar # Illinois State Sr. 3.81 International Business

Veronika Golanova Illinois State R-Jr. 3.72 Exercise Science

Tess Herder #^ Drake Sr. 3.97 Elementary Education

Fati Khamissi * Missouri State Jr. 3.75 Cell & Molecular Biology

Jordan Kopfer Valparaiso So. 4.00 Health Science

Jana Kustkova Illinois State Jr. 3.83 Organizational Leadership

Malini Wijesinghe # Drake Jr. 3.98 Biochemistry, Philosophy, and Spanish

# 2017 First Team, *2017 Honorable Mention, ^ 2016 First Team, % 2016 Honorable Mention

2018 Missouri Valley Conference Women’s Tennis Scholar-Athlete Honorable Mention Team

Natalia Barbery Bradley So. 3.61 Industrial Engineering, Engineering Management

Alye Darter Missouri State So. 3.74 Communications Sciences & Disabilities

Anne-Kathrin Hierl Stony Brook Jr. 3.80 Business Management

Savanna Hunt UNI Sr. 3.64 Physical Education (Kinesiology) & Exercise Science

Dao Sysouvanh Valparaiso So. 3.44 Civil Engineering

Anelisse Torrico Moreno Missouri State Sr. 3.47 Accounting