Olivia Czerwonka (Kenosha, Wis. / Saint Joseph Catholic Academy) will have an opportunity to garner a pair of conference crowns on Sunday.

The Valpo junior punched her ticket to the championship match in Flight 2 Singles at the Missouri Valley Conference Individual Championships on Saturday. In addition, Olivia teamed up with her sister Claire Czerwonka (Kenosha, Wis. / Saint Joseph Catholic Academy) to advance to the Flight 1 Doubles championship match thanks to Saturday’s semifinal win at the Valpo Tennis Complex.

How It Happened

• Olivia rallied from a set down to beat Stony Brook’s Loreta Rubio in a three-set thriller in Saturday’s Flight 2 Singles semifinal round. After dropping the opening set 4-6, Olivia dominated Set 2 6-1 before the third and final set went to a tiebreak at 6-6. Olivia rattled off all seven points in the tiebreak to move on to Sunday’s title match, where she will face Illinois State’s Alexandra Abyasova.
• The Czerwonka sisters were victorious in Flight 1 Doubles for the second straight day, this time beating Bradley’s Maletin/Hailey 8-4. The Beacon duo will face off with Illinois State’s Zlatanovic/Potsi in Sunday’s championship match.
• Junior Amanda Tabanera (Valencia, Calif. / Valencia) obtained her second victory of the weekend to secure fifth place in Flight 3 singles. She set the tone with a 6-0 whitewash in the first set of the fifth-place match against Sandra Lukacova of Missouri State before securing the sweep by prevailing 6-4 in Set 2.
• Tabanera teamed with Isabella Schoolcraft (Bargersville, Ind. / Center Grove) for an 8-4 victory over UNI’s Carr/Brkic in the consolation draw of Flight 2 Doubles on Saturday. The Valpo tandem will play Lukavoca/Houston of Missouri State for fifth place on Sunday.
• Several Valpo players will compete in third-place matches on Sunday after falling in the semifinal round of their respective flights on Saturday – Schoolcraft in Flight 6, Mia Bertino (Lockport, Ill. / Joliet Catholic) in Flight 5 and Demi Jhaveri (Westlake, Ohio / Westlake) in Flight 4.

Inside the Matches

• A day after shattering the program record for career doubles wins, Claire upped her career mark to 57.
• The Czerwonka sisters collected their fifth win as a doubles tandem this season. Olivia lifted her career doubles win total to 30.
• The Czerwonka sisters’ victory came over a Bradley pair that featured Sandra Maletin – a 2019 All-MVC performer at No. 1 doubles, nine-time MVC weekly award winner and three-time MVC All-Select Team honoree.
• Olivia’s singles win came over Loreta Rubio, who won a singles flight championship in the 2019 MVC Individual Championships.
• Olivia improved her season singles record to 9-2 while boosting her career singles win total to 33.
• Tabanera’s win was the 26^th of her collegiate career and her sixth this season.
• Tabanera and Schoolcraft grabbed their fourth win as a doubles tandem this fall.

Up Next 

The three-day event will conclude on Championship Sunday with play scheduled to get underway at 9 a.m. at the Valpo Tennis Complex.