A day after earning All-Select Team honors from the Missouri Valley Conference, Valparaiso University tennis senior Olivia Czerwonka (Kenosha, Wis. / Saint Joseph Catholic Academy) added to her ever-growing trophy case as she was named to the MVC Scholar-Athlete First Team on Friday morning. 

A nursing major who boasts a 3.70 cumulative grade point average, Czerwonka has earned MVC Scholar-Athlete First Team recognition for the third consecutive season. She is also a three-time all-conference honoree (two All-Select, one First Team) and was the MVC Player of the Year last season after earning league titles in Flight 2 Singles and Flight 1 Doubles in Fall 2021.

Czerwonka, who went 17-7 at No. 1 singles and 17-11 at No. 1 doubles this year, owns 11 career MVC weekly awards including two this season. She possesses 62 career doubles wins, second in program history behind only her sister Claire. She and Moira Silva had 17 doubles wins this year, tied for the seventh most in a single season in program history. Her 63 career singles wins rank second in the Valpo record book and are just two away from the program record. She is expected to return for her additional year of eligibility caused by the COVID-19 pandemic in 2023-24.

In addition, four Beacons were named MVC Scholar-Athlete Honorable Mention – Demi Jhaveri (Westlake, Ohio / Westlake), Amanda Tabanera (Valencia, Calif. / Valencia), Eleanor Chapman (East Sussex, England / Eastbourne College [UT Martin / Lipscomb]) and Mia Bertino (Lockport, Ill. / Joliet Catholic).

The team’s collective performance in the classroom helped women’s tennis earn the Valparaiso University Team Academic Award for the second consecutive year. Bertino, who owns a 3.85 GPA in elementary education, earned MVC S-A Honorable Mention for a second straight year, as did Jhaveri, who possesses a 3.90 in digital media. Tabanera owns a 3.65 in healthcare leadership, while Chapman graduated from Lipscomb with a 3.66 in exercise science and owns a 4.0 toward her MBA.

MVC Scholar-Athlete Team

Elena Jankulovska, Illinois State

Alyson Piskulic, Missouri State

Diana Cabrera, Missouri State

Tijana Zlatanovic, Illinois State

Natalia Nikolopoulou, UIC

Madalena Andrade, Bradley

Olivia Czerwonka, Valparaiso

MVC Scholar-Athlete Honorable Mention

Cora-Lynn von Dungern, UIC

Natalie Slezakova, Murray State

Agnes Gustafsson, UIC

Sara Bureau, Murray State

Alexandra Abyasova, Illinois State

Demi Jhaveri, Valparaiso

Abi Solomon, Belmont

Mia Bertino, Valparaiso

Amanda Tabanera, Valparaiso

Annika Pschorr, Murray State

Eleanor Chapman, Valparaiso