The Valparaiso University women’s tennis team pulled out a 5-4 victory over Bethel late Friday night in St. Paul, Minn. A lengthy match paid off for Valpo as the team entered the win column for the first time this spring. All five singles matches required three sets to complete.

How It Happened

• Valpo got off to a strong start to the match by winning on all three doubles courts. Jordan Kopfer (Eagan, Minn. / Eastview) and Dao Sysouvanh (Sun Prairie, Wis. / Sun Prairie) picked up an 8-2 victory in the first match to finish at No. 3 doubles.
• The other two doubles matches were far closer as Claire Czerwonka (Kenosha, Wis. / Saint Joseph Catholic Academy) and Isabella Schoolcraft (Bargersville, Ind. / Center Grove) teamed up for a 8-7(6) win at No. 1 doubles before Meg Modesto (Chesterton, Ind. / Chesterton) and Randi Wind (Park Ridge, Ill. / Maine South) finished off an 8-6 victory at No. 2.
• The match was played under Division III scoring rules, so Valpo carried a 3-0 lead in the team scoring into singles play rather than the 1-0 lead they would have had under Division I rules, where doubles count as one decision. This detail proved significant in the match’s outcome.
• Valpo dropped No. 6 singles by forfeit. The deficit continued to narrow after the first singles match to finish as Modesto fell 6-3, 3-6, 12-10 at No. 2 to make the team score 3-2.
• The second singles match to finish was No. 4, where Wind garnered a 6-4, 2-6, 10-7 victory. The decisive victory came at No. 5, where Kopfer recovered from a Set 1 loss to win 5-7, 6-1, 10-5.
• Schoolcraft dropped a competitive 3-6, 6-3, 10-6 match at No. 3, while Czerwonka came out on the wrong end of a nail-biting 3-6, 7-6(5), 12-10 showdown at No. 1.

Inside the Match

• Sysouvanh made her spring debut as she saw her first match action since Sept. 29 due to an injury. Modesto also returned from injury/illness, making her first appearance since Jan. 20 at Toledo.
• Kopfer picked up her eighth victory of the season and her second in dual competition, while Wind registered her fifth win of the year and second in dual action.
• Schoolcraft and Czerwonka upped their record to 3-2 as a doubles pair, while Kopfer and Sysouvanh played together for the first time this season. The Modesto/Wind pairing had occurred once previously (Jan. 20 at Toledo) and that combo is now 2-0.

Up Next

The team will be back in action on Saturday for a second straight match in the state of Minnesota. Valpo visits Carleton in Northfield, Minn. at 10 a.m. CT to round out a weekend of tennis in the Gopher State.