Junior Moira Silva (Houston, Texas / Houston Tennis Academy) and freshman Naomi Lalonde (Mississauga, Ontario, Canada) were on the verge of victories in both their singles and doubles matches on Saturday, but those matches went unfinished as visiting Western Michigan clinched a 4-0 victory over the Valparaiso University tennis team at The Courts of Northwest Indiana.
 
How It Happened

• Silva and Lalonde had a 4-2 lead over Julia Frazier and Polina Khotko at the top doubles spot, but the Broncos wrapped up the doubles point with wins on the second and third courts, leaving No. 1 dubs unfinished.
• Western Michigan's bottom of the lineup got the job done, as the No. 4, No. 5 and No. 6 singles players all cruised to straight-set victories to clinch the match at 4-0. Since the two teams agreed to play a clinch-clinch format, the top three singles matches went unfinished including two courts where Valpo maintained the lead at the time play was halted.
• Silva led Khotko 6-1, 5-3 and was one game away from notching a victory at No. 1 Singles, while Lalonde held a commanding 6-3, 4-2 lead over Christine Gouws at No. 2.

Inside The Match

• Western Michigan has finished with a record of .500 or better in six straight seasons.
• Silva had the lead on Khotko, who was the Mid-American Conference Freshman and Newcomer of the Year last season.
• Lalonde's lead came over Gouws, who was a member of the All-Ohio Valley Conference second team in 2023 and played the last four seasons at Illinois State.

Up Next
Valpo (3-2) will continue a stretch of three straight home matches to start the spring by welcoming Milwaukee to The Courts of Northwest Indiana on Saturday, Feb. 8 at 4 p.m.