The Valparaiso University tennis team attained a noteworthy win on Saturday, beating Milwaukee for the first time in the last 15 matchups between the two teams. Valpo went on the road and earned a 4-3 victory over the Panthers by capturing four of the six singles matches.

How It Happened

• Valpo played from behind after dropping the doubles point. The No. 1 doubles match was locked in a 5-5 tie at the time the doubles point was clinched.
• The team victory came down to the final match in action, a three-set battle featuring Demi Jhaveri (Westlake, Ohio / Westlake) at No. 4 singles. She rallied after losing the opening set 6-1 by edging her way to victories in the remaining sets, 6-4, 7-5.
• The Beacons boasted a “double bagel” victory from Isabella Schoolcraft (Bargersville, Ind. / Center Grove) at No. 6. She ran off wins in 12 straight games to sweep the match in dominant fashion.
• Senior Claire Czerwonka (Kenosha, Wis. / Saint Joseph Catholic Academy) garnered a straight-set win at No. 2, picking up a 6-4, 6-3 triumph.
• Four of the six singles matches went to a third set, including Amanda Tabanera’s (Valencia, Calif. / Valencia) win at No. 3, where she rallied from a set down. After dropping the opener 6-2, Tabanera turned it around to prevail 6-4 in Set 2 before polishing off the victory with 6-0 blanking in Set 3.
• The No. 1 singles match also went to three sets as Olivia Czerwonka (Westland, Mich. / Churchill) won her opening set on a tiebreak 7-6(1) before dropping the next two sets. Mia Bertino (Lockport, Ill. / Joliet Catholic) also won her first set at No. 5 singles before falling in a tight match that featured all close sets.

Inside the Match

• Claire’s singles win was the 53^rd of her career, moving her into sole possession of fifth place in program history. She snapped a tie with Kate Kollarova (2000-2002) and Whitney Chada (2003-2007).
• Valpo improved to 2-1 in matches decided by a 4-3 score. In addition, the team earned its first victory this season when dropping the doubles point. The Beacons were previously 0-7 this season when falling in doubles and had lost nine straight matches when losing the doubles point dating back to last season.
• Tabanera picked up her 13^th singles win of the season, while Schoolcraft achieved her eighth, Claire her ninth and Jhaveri her 11^th. Tabanera is up to 36 career singles successes.
• This win marked a significant turnaround from last season’s match, when Milwaukee came to Valpo and garnered a 5-2 victory.
• In fact, this snapped Valpo’s 14-match head-to-head losing streak to the Panthers dating back to Feb. 23, 2002, a 6-1 Valpo triumph. Valpo did not beat Milwaukee during the 10 seasons that the programs shared Horizon League affiliation.
• By earning the team’s seventh win of the season, the Beacons have now surpassed last season’s win total and own the program’s highest win accumulation since 2007.

Up Next

The Beacons (7-8) will attempt to close out a 2-0 weekend on Sunday at 2:30 p.m. vs. Oakland. The match will take place at The Courts of Northwest Indiana.