Friday, April 13, 2007

Valparaiso registered its third victory in its last four matches on Friday morning as the Crusaders blanked Centenary 5-0 to open the final Mid-Continent Conference cluster in Rochester, Mich.

Playing indoors due to the chilly conditions, the Crusaders opened the day sweeping the doubles point. Kate Evangelist (Glen Ellyn, Ill./Glenbard West H.S.) and Whitney Chada (Downers Grove, Ill./North H.S.) started things off at second doubles with an 8-2 victory over Jennifer Majchrowicz and Lindsay Ezell. Jenny Schwartz (Aurora, Ill./West Aurora H.S.) and Kim Sajevic (Woodbury, Minn./Woodbury H.S.) had an even easier time with things at third doubles, downing Kate Buchanan and Kristina Collins 8-1. Rachel Janssen (Fort Wayne, Ind./Dwenger H.S.) and Julie Wingstrom (Wolcotville, Ind./Westview H.S.) capped off the sweep at the top spot with their 8-5 victory over Christine Majchrowicz and Courtney Myers.

In singles play, Valpo dropped just six games total against Centenary (2-14, 1-4 Mid-Con) in the four matches that were completed. Sajevic won her fifth straight match while remaining unbeaten in Mid-Con action with her 6-0, 6-0 victory over Ezell at third singles. Evangelist then posted a 6-0, 6-1 win over Collins in the second spot to move over .500 (12-11) on the season individually. Chada clinched the match for the Brown and Gold with her 6-0, 6-3 triumph at the fourth slot, defeating Myers. Janssen then finished her team-leading 17th singles win of the year at number one with a 6-0, 6-2 victory over Christine Majchrowicz. Schwartz had just started her fifth singles contest when the match ended while Molly Keifer (Richmond, Ind./Richmond H.S.) had yet to take the court.

Valparaiso (9-9, 3-2) will continue cluster action on Saturday as the Crusaders face UMKC. First serve is set for 1 p.m. CDT in Rochester. Please note, this is a later starting time than originally published due to playing indoors.