The Valparaiso University tennis team picked up wins at both No. 1 Singles and No. 1 Doubles in a 6-1 setback to Bowling Green on Saturday afternoon at The Courts of Northwest Indiana. Junior Moira Silva (Houston, Texas / Houston Tennis Academy) achieved victories in both singles and doubles.
 
How It Happened

• Silva teamed up with freshman Naomi Lalonde (Mississauga, Ontario, Canada) to capture all six games of a whitewash of Bowling Green's top doubles tandem of Tia Clemens and Isabella Baker.
• The Falcons won on the other two doubles courts, both in competitive 7-5 fashion, to take the doubles point.
• Silva's No. 1 Singles win came over Clemens in straight sets. The first set went to a tiebreak before Silva rapped off all seven points in the breaker to take the set 7-6(0). The Valpo junior then prevailed 6-3 in Set 2.
• The guests won in straight sets at No. 5 and No. 6, but the three remaining matches all required third sets with Valpo needing to take all three to win the match. Bowling Green secured the team win when Baker defeated Lalonde at No. 2 in a traditional third set. The Valpo rookie won all three games in the first set but eventually dropped all six in the decisive third set.
• With the team outcome locked up, the No. 3 and No. 4 Singles matches used third-set tiebreaks. Both sophomore Jolene Fernandes (Calgary, Alberta, Canada) and freshman Brynn Steven (Wichita, Kan. / Bishop Carroll) won their first sets but went on to drop their matches. At No. 3, Fernandes fell 5-7, 6-1, (11-9) on a tight third-set breaker. Steven dropped her match at No. 4 4-6, 6-3, (10-5).

Inside the Match

• Silva improved to 11-4 overall and 5-2 in dual matches. She has won two of her last three to boost her career win total to 44, five away from cracking the program's all-time top 10.
• The junior is up to 39 career doubles wins, two away from reaching the program's all-time top 10 in that category.
• Silva and Lalonde improved to 7-4 overall and 5-1 in dual matches this season.

Up Next
Valpo (3-5) will host Butler on Saturday, March 15 at 2 p.m. at The Courts of Northwest Indiana.