The Valparaiso University tennis team began the Missouri Valley Conference Individual Championships on Friday with the event being hosted by Missouri State in Springfield, Mo. this weekend. The Beacons received a pair of singles wins on Day 1, plus the Flight 3 Doubles team advanced to Saturday’s semifinal round.

How It Happened

• In Flight 3 Doubles, Mia Bertino (Lockport, Ill. / Joliet Catholic) and Jolene Fernandes (Calgary, Alberta, Canada) battled to a close victory over the UIC combo of Brion/Ryan, prevailing 8-5 to move on to the semifinals. Bertino/Fernandes will match up with Drake’s Klavinska/Lee on Saturday.
• In Flight 4 Singles, Sydney Stone (Brisbane, Australia / Tyler JC) had little trouble advancing to the semifinal round, prevailing in straight sets while dropping just two games in her opening-round match. She beat Tuana Gunal of Missouri State 6-1, 6-1. She will clash with Murray State’s Emma Honore on Saturday.
• In Flight 6 Singles, Fernandes punched her ticket to the semifinal round by edging Illinois State’s Sofia Rodrigo 7-6(6) on a tiebreak in the first set before prevailing 6-3 in the second. She will face off with Murray State’s Natalie Slezokova for a spot in the finals.
• The Flight 2 Doubles team of Stone and Elizabeth Sobieski (Muskego, Wis. / Muskego) earned an 8-3 win over Bradley’s Bezmenova/Pukhina earlier in the day before incurring an 8-5 setback in the quarterfinal round to Drake’s Haagensen/Stepan.
• In Flight 1 Singles, Olivia Czerwonka (Kenosha, Wis. / Saint Joseph Catholic Academy) fell 7-5, 6-1 to Cristina Flaquer Fueste of Missouri State. In Flight 2, Moira Silva (Houston, Texas / Houston Tennis Academy) retired due to injury during her match against Belmont’s Vesa Gijnaj. In Flight 1 Doubles, the Czerwonka/Silva tandem dropped an 8-6 showdown to Belmont’s Hlahola/Zholdokova.
• Bertino incurred a 7-5, 6-0 setback to Murray State’s Sarah Bureau in Flight 3 Singles, while Sobieski dropped a three-set thriller to Darinka Stepan of Drake in Flight 5.  

Up Next

The MVC Individual Championships will continue on Saturday in Springfield.