Olivia Czerwonka

Olivia Czerwonka

Yr. Fr.
Hometown Kenosha, Wis.
High School Saint Joseph Catholic Academy

2022-23 MVC All-Select Team
2022-23 MVC Scholar-Athlete First Team
2022-23 CSC Academic All-District
2022-23 Team MVP 
2022-23 VUAA Distinguished Student Award 
2021-22 MVC Player of the Year
2021-22 All-MVC First Team (No. 1 Singles)
2021-22 MVC Scholar-Athlete First Team
Fall 2021 MVC Flight 1 Doubles Champion
Fall 2021 MVC Flight 2 Singles Champion
2020-21 MVC All-Select Team
2020-21 MVC Scholar-Athlete First Team
2020-21 Team Most Valuable Player

2022-23: Posted a 17-7 record in singles play and a 17-11 mark in doubles action, playing at the No. 1 position in both singles and doubles… Earned a place in the ITA Midwest Regional main draw in October… Named MVC Singles Player of the Week on Jan. 31 after a win at No. 1 singles in the team’s 4-3 triumph over Ohio Valley Conference preseason co-favorite SIUE… Named the MVC Doubles Team of the Week alongside Moira Silva on Feb. 15 after helping Valpo secure a double point that proved crucial in a 4-3 road win at Northern Illinois. That lifted her career total to 11 MVC weekly awards… Had a singles winning percentage of .708 for the season, a mark that ranked 10th in program history… Her 17 doubles wins tied for the seventh-most in a single season in program history… Finished the season with 63 career singles wins, the second most in program history and two shy of Kate Evangelist’s program record… Also finished the season ranked second in program history in career doubles wins with 62, 10 shy of her sister Claire’s program record… Achieved MVC All-Select Team status and was named to the MVC Scholar-Athlete First Team… Garnered College Sports Communicators Academic All-District recognition… Named the team’s Most Valuable Player… Won Valparaiso University Alumni Association Distinguished Student Award, representing the College of Nursing and Health Professions, one of eight Valpo students and the only student-athlete to receive that honor… Earned ITA Scholar-Athlete honors… Achieved Valparaiso University Presidential Academic Honors.

2021-22: Won MVC Individual Championships at Flight 1 Doubles and Flight 2 Singles at the MVC Individual Championships hosted by Valpo during the fall... Named the Missouri Valley Conference Player of the Year following the spring season... Became the first Valpo student-athlete in any sport to earn MVC Player of the Year since the University joined the conference in 2017... Also become the first Valpo women’s tennis player to be named conference Player of the Year since 2002... Named MVC Scholar-Athlete First Team and First Team All-MVC at No. 1 Singles... Upset the defending MVC Player of the Year and reigning MVC Flight 1 Singles Champion in straight sets during a match against Illinois State, handing the Illinois State player the first league loss of her career... Finished the season with 22 singles wins, the third most in single-season program history... Posted a 4-1 MVC record in singles play despite moving up to No. 1 singles for the spring season... Collected 20 doubles wins during the season alongside her sister Claire, tying with three others for the program record... Finished her junior season ranked in the top 10 in program history in both career singles victories (46, ninth) and career doubles victories (45, ninth) while also ranking in sixth in career singles winning percentage (.613) and second in career doubles winning percentage (.616).

2020-21: Earned MVC All-Select Team and MVC Scholar-Athlete First Team accolades in addition to being named the team’s Most Valuable Player… Hauled in four MVC weekly awards (two singles, two doubles) to lift her career total to five (two singles, three doubles) through two seasons… Finished the season with a career doubles winning percentage of .595 that ranks second in program history and a career singles winning percentage of .585 that is tied for sixth… Posted a 12-6 record at No. 1 doubles alongside her sister Claire, a .667 single-season doubles winning percentage that ranks tied for seventh in program history and the best since 2004-2005… Led the team in singles victories with 11, all coming at the No. 2 position… Posted an 11-8 singles record… Finished conference play with a 4-1 singles record and 4-1 doubles mark… Dropped just two games en route to a 6-0, 6-2 victory over Milwaukee’s Mayya Perova at second singles on Feb. 19. Perova was the 2018-19 Horizon League Freshman of the Year and a member of the All-Horizon League squad as a rookie… Put together a nine-match winning streak alongside her older sister Claire at No. 1 doubles that started on Feb. 27 and ended on April 17… Enjoyed a six-match singles winning streak that began on Feb. 28 and ended on April 3… Won alongside Claire at the top doubles spot on April 3 at Drake. The win came against competition as they topped Drake’s Liza Petushkova and Maria Tatarnikova 6-4. Petushkova was a two-time member of the All-MVC Selection Team (2017-18, 2018-19) and was part of a doubles tandem that was ranked No. 71 nationally the previous season. She was also the 2017-18 MVC Freshman of the Year and went on to earn another MVC All-Select Team honor in 2020-21… Downed Missouri State’s No. 1 doubles tandem of Ellie Burger and Claire Martin 6-2 on April 10. Burger went on to earn All-MVC First Team honors… Rallied from a set down to beat Burger in singles on April 10 vs. Missouri State. Burger is a former MVC individual singles champion and earned MVC All-Select Team honors twice before this year’s first-team all-conference selection… Beat Bradley’s Sandra Maletin and Victoria Sanchez Bronzetti 6-2 on April 18 at No. 1 doubles. Maletin was a two-time MVC All-Select team choice and 2019 All-MVC performer in doubles, and went on to earn MVC All-Select team for a third straight season in 2020-21… Topped Bradley’s Bonzana Lojpur in straight sets on April 18. Lojpur was the 2019 Flight 2 MVC Singles champion, a 2019 All-MVC performer, the 2019 MVC Freshman of the Year and went on to earn 2021 MVC All-Select Team status… Finished her sophomore season with 24 career singles wins and 25 career doubles triumphs… Earned MVC Commissioner’s Academic Excellence Award, MVC Academic Honor Roll and Valparaiso University Presidential Academic Honors.

2019-20: Went 13-9 in singles action and 13-11 in doubles play, leading the team in doubles wins during her freshman campaign… Boasted a 7-5 dual-match mark as a rookie playing No. 2 singles… Through one season, ranked seventh in program history in career singles winning percentage (minimum 10 victories) at .591 and ninth in career doubles winning percentage at .542… Started the fall by winning seven of her first eight singles matches and accrued nine total singles wins during the fall…Knocked off reigning MVC Freshman of the Year Bozana Lojpur of Bradley, an All-MVC performer from the previous season, in three sets on Sept. 14 at the Chicago State Invitational… Garnered a straight-set victory at second singles in a Jan. 19 match against Butler… Notched a straight-set win over Green Bay on Feb. 9, accounting for the team’s lone victory in a 6-1 setback… Battled from a set down to win 4-6, 7-6(1), 6-3 at No. 2 singles in the team’s victory over Eastern Illinois on Feb. 16… Had a strong day on March 4, going a combined 4-0 in singles and doubles in matches against Hampton and Grand Valley State. That proved to be the final day of the season as the remainder of the slate was wiped out by COVID-19… Had nine doubles wins during the fall season as she was paired with Amanda Tabanera early in the year before teaming up with Demi Jhaveri for the remainder of the fall docket… Won 6-2 at No. 2 alongside Jhaveri in the team’s victory over IUPUI to open up the spring season on Jan. 18… Moved up to No. 1 doubles to team up with her older sister Claire starting on Feb. 8 at Milwaukee… Contributed to the team’s win over Eastern Illinois on Feb. 16 with a 6-3 victory at second doubles… After closing the team’s spring break trip with doubles wins over Hampton and Grand Valley State in Orlando, the Czerwonka sisters were named the MVC Doubles Team of the Week on March 10.

Prep: WIAA D2 state individual girls tennis singles state runner-up in October 2017 and October 2018… Placed fifth in 2016 and sixth in 2015 at state… Was named the team MVP in 2018 and was a team captain in 2017… Was named her team’s Rookie of the Year in 2015… Was a four-time Metro Classic Conference champion… Was nominated for Southeast Wisconsin Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Tennis Athlete of the Year in 2018 and 2019… Led the way to a state runner-up finish in the D2 girls team championship, the first time in school history St. Joseph Catholic Academy girls tennis reached state as a team… Was a member of National Honor Society with an unweighted GPA of 3.93.

Personal: Has an older sister, Claire, who is also on the Valpo women’s tennis team… Daughter of Tracie and CJ Czerwonka… Majoring in nursing... Went on a mission trip to the Dominican Republic and helped build homes for people who don’t have the necessary material means. Stayed in an orphanage and interacted with the children there… For several summers she and Claire have run a free “Game, Set, Match Camp and Social” for children and adults with special needs. Each year they teach tennis and recruit a team of six to eight coaches to assist with the camp… Attended the community-wide “A Night to Remember,” a free prom honoring individuals with special needs from ages 15-30... Received the Mayor's Youth Commission Award in April 2019 for outstanding personal achievements and positive contributions in the Kenosha Community.