Claire Czerwonka Reaches Singles Milestone as Valpo Sweeps PNW

Saturday, February 12, 2022

Claire Czerwonka picked up her 50th career singles win on Saturday.

The Valparaiso University tennis team prevailed on all three doubles courts and each of the seven singles courts on Saturday en route to a 7-0 victory over Purdue Northwest at Park Forest Tennis Club in Park Forest, Ill. The Beacons added another win to what was already their best start in the last quarter century and have now won five of their six matches this season. Claire Czerwonka (Kenosha, Wis. / Saint Joseph Catholic Academy) joined an exclusive club by achieving her 50^th career singles win.

How It Happened

Valpo dropped a total of just two games in the three doubles matches. Sisters Olivia and Claire Czerwonka (Kenosha, Wis. / Saint Joseph Catholic Academy) earned wins in all six games against PNW’s top doubles tandem. Valpo also had strong performances at the No. 2 and No. 3 doubles positions, as Amanda Tabanera (Valencia, Calif. / Valencia) & Isabella Schoolcraft (Bargersville, Ind. / Center Grove) and Demi Jhaveri (Westlake, Ohio / Westlake) & Allison McConnell (Westland, Mich. / Churchill) both notched 6-1 victories.
Olivia made quick work of Sienna Lopez at No. 1 singles, earning a 6-4, 6-0 win in the first singles match to finish. The next match to reach its conclusion was at No. 5, where Mia Bertino (Lockport, Ill. / Joliet Catholic) enjoyed a 6-1, 6-2 win over Hayley Tsuen.
The No. 2 singles match saw Claire earn a 6-1, 6-2 sweep to cement the team triumph. At No. 4 singles, Jhaveri nearly posted a double bagel, losing just one game in a 6-1, 6-0 rout.
The final matching standing came at No. 6, the lone three-set affair of the day. Isabella Schoolcraft (Bargersville, Ind. / Center Grove) pulled out a close 7-5 win in the first set before incurring a 6-1 setback in Set 2. She earned a 10-5 win in the third-set tiebreak to solidify the singles sweep and 7-0 victory for the visiting Beacons.

Inside the Match

Claire reached a significant milestone as she obtained her 50^th career singles victory. She snapped a tie with Jill Dierberg for seventh in program lore and became just the seventh player in program history to hit the 50-win threshold in singles play. She is two away from moving into a tie for fifth with Kate Kollarova (2000-2002) and Whitney Chada (2003-2007).
Olivia moved into a tie for 10^th in program history in career doubles successes with 36. Claire’s program-record career doubles win total now sits at 63 as the sisters own 11 doubles triumphs this season.
Olivia now has 39 career singles wins, snapping a three-way tie for 10^th in program history with Charmaine Stanislaw (2002-2006) and Kim Sajevic (2005-2009). Olivia now owns sole possession of 10^th and is five away from ninth.
Olivia’s singles victory came over Lopez, a first-team all-conference performer last season. Claire defeated Patricia Dizon, an all-conference honorable mention player a year ago.
Tabanera and Schoolcraft now hold a winning record as a doubles tandem this season at 9-8. They’ve won five of their six dual matches.
Tabanera picked up her 10^th singles win of the year and collected her 30^th collegiate singles victory.
Jhaveri jumped her singles record above .500 at 9-8 and has picked up wins in three of her last four.
Schoolcraft expanded her career singles win total to 23.
This marked Valpo’s second 7-0 win of the season, first of the spring and first since starting the fall with a 7-0 triumph over Holy Cross. This was the program’s first 7-0 win in a road match since Jan. 20, 2018 at IUPUI.