The Valparaiso University women’s tennis team found great success on the doubles courts on Saturday in Chicago. The squad prevailed in eight of its nine doubles matches on the opening day of the Cougar Invitational. The tournament features a non-bracketed, hidden-duals format.

How It Happened

• Freshman Olivia Czerwonka (Kenosha, Wis. / Saint Joseph Catholic Academy) upended the reigning Missouri Valley Conference Freshman of the Year with her three-set win over Bradley’s Bozana Lojpur. Czerwonka won the opening set 6-4 before dropping the middle set 3-6. That set up a 10-6 victory in the third-set tiebreak. Lojpur was also an All-MVC performer during the 2018-19 season, earning first-team all-conference honors at No. 2 singles.
• Sophomore Isabella Schoolcraft (Bargersville, Ind. / Center Grove) started her set against Bradley’s Nikki Perlwitz favorably with a 6-2 win in Set 1, but Perlwitz came back to take the next two sets and win the match in a third-set tiebreak.
• Valpo won two out of three doubles matches against Chicago State. Those matches used a best-of-three doubles format. The No. 2 duo of Olivia Czerwonka and Demi Jhaveri (Westlake, Ohio / Westlake) secured a 2-6, 6-2, 10-8 win, while freshman Amanda Tabanera (Valencia, Calif. / Valencia) and senior Dao Sysouvanh (Sun Prairie, Wis. / Sun Prairie) teamed up for a 6-2, 7-6(5) victory at No. 3. The No. 1 doubles match was also tight, with Claire Czerwonka (Kenosha, Wis. / Saint Joseph Catholic Academy) and Schoolcraft falling 10-8 in a third-set tiebreak after having won the opening set.
• Valpo later took on Bellarmine in doubles and won on all three courts while using an eight-game pro set format. Claire/Schoolcraft (8-5), Olivia/Jhaveri (8-5) and Tabanera/Sysouvanh (8-1) all garnered victories.
• A busy day of doubles also saw Valpo match up with the University of Chicago and prevail on all three courts. The aforementioned pairings all won eight-game pro sets by the score of 8-3.
• With her two doubles wins on Saturday, Claire Czerwonka is up to 32 for her career, moving into a tie for 10^th in program history. The junior needs one more doubles win to snap a tie with Kathleen Hebble (2014-2017) and take over sole possession of 10^th all-time.

Up Next

Valpo will continue the weekend in the Windy City on Sunday as the Cougar Invitational concludes.