The Valparaiso University women’s tennis team continued its trend of down-to-the-wire matches on Wednesday, competing in its third straight contest decided by a 4-3 score. For the second straight outing, the Beacons were on the right end of a battle dictated by the slimmest of margins, as the squad bounced back from dropping the doubles point to beat host Chicago State on Wednesday afternoon in Homewood, Ill.

How It Happened

• The doubles matches all went the way of the Cougars, with the closest coming at No. 3, where Elizabeth Sobieski (Muskego, Wis. / Muskego) and Sydney Stone (Brisbane, Australia / Tyler JC) were edged by the Chicago State pairing of Dukic/Taibi.
• In singles play, the first to finish was Olivia Czerwonka (Kenosha, Wis. / Saint Joseph Catholic Academy) at No. 2. She downed Sofina Sedovich 6-1, 6-3.
• Chicago State took a 2-1 lead in the match as No. 6 singles was the next to finish, but the Beacons got back to even when Moira Silva (Houston, Texas / Houston Tennis Academy) finalized a 7-6, 6-1 win over Katarina Dukic
• Valpo inched ahead 3-2 when Stone nipped Ethel Li 6-4, 7-6(5) at No. 5.
• The clinching win came at No. 4, where Sobieski prevailed in a pair of tight sets, beating Amina Taibi 7-6(4), 6-4 at No. 4.
• Valpo dropped a three-set thriller at No. 3 singles as Mia Bertino (Lockport, Ill. / Joliet Catholic) took the opening set 6-2 but Manuella Eloundou took the remaining sets 6-2, 6-4.

Inside the Matches

• Silva upped her record to 13-3 in singles and is now 8-0 in dual matches. She has 31 career singles wins as just a sophomore.
• Czerwonka bettered her mark to 14-4 on the season and lifted her program-record singles win total to 77.
• Sobieski snatched her 10^th singles win of the year, while Stone picked up her sixth.

Up Next

The Beacons (5-3) will host Purdue Northwest on Saturday at 2 p.m. at The Courts of Northwest Indiana.