Valparaiso University tennis junior Moira Silva (Houston, Texas / Westside) continued her strong play on Saturday as she captured another singles victory in the team's 6-1 setback to Illinois State in a match that was played outdoors at the Valpo Tennis Complex. Silva has now cracked the program's all-time top 10 for single-season singles wins.
 
How It Happened

• Silva started a solid Saturday by teaming up with Jolene Fernandes (Calgary, Alberta,  Canada) to dispatch the Illinois State No. 1 doubles team of Lana Caculovic and Silvia Pomarolli 6-1 while dropping just one game.
• The Beacons lost the doubles point, falling in the No. 2 match that was played and in the No. 3 match by default.
• Silva was the first singles player off the court, cruising to a 6-3, 6-2 win over Caculovic at No. 1.
• The match was tightly played as Valpo won at least three games in every set on all courts. The Beacons won at least four games in each set at No. 4 and No. 5.
• The most significant cliffhanger came at No. 2, where Fernandes won the opening set on a tiebreaker but eventually lost to Silvia Pomarolli on a third-set breaker 6-7(3), 6-3, (10-7).

Inside the Match

• Silva garnered her 18^th singles victory of the season, moving into a tie for 10^th in program history. She equaled her own 2022-2023 total of 18 as part of that tie for 10^th, which also includes Christina Scala's 2001-2002 season and Amanda Tabanera's 2021-2022 campaign.
• Silva is up to 51 career wins, moving into sole possession of ninth on Saturday. She broke a tie with Tabanera (2019-2023), who finished her career with an even 50.
• Silva is 8-2 in her last 10 matches and advanced her conference record to 5-1 with Saturday's success story.
• Silva picked up her ninth doubles win of the year and the 41^st of her career. She entered the program's all-time top 10 in that category as well, moving into a 10^th-place tie with Paige Heuer (2013-2017).

Up Next
Valpo (3-14, 0-6 MVC) will continue a stretch of three straight home matches to close out the season on Sunday at 10 a.m. vs. Bradley. The teams will decide on Sunday morning whether the match will be played indoors at The Courts of Northwest Indiana or outdoors at The Valpo Tennis Complex.