The Valparaiso University tennis team closed out a solid showing at Illinois State's Redbird Invitational at Gregory Tennis Courts in Normal, Ill. on Sunday. Two Beacon doubles tandems took third place, while four players captured singles wins on the final day of the event, which serves as the unofficial Missouri Valley Conference Individual Championships.
 
How It Happened

• Valpo's No. 2 and No. 3 doubles pairs picked up victories in third-place matches in their respective flights on Sunday. In Flight 2, junior Brynn Steven (Wichita, Kan. / Bishop Carroll) and freshman Cathy Beckmann (Indianapolis, Ind. / Bishop Chatard) teamed up for an 8-4 win over Bradley's Iverson/Sharp. In Flight 3, a walkover against Murray State secured a third-place finish, while the Flight 1 Doubles team placed fourth.
• In Flight 2 Singles, sophomore Alexandra Popa (Glenview, Ill. / Glenbrook South) picked up her second straight win, beating UNI's Andrea Noa Gailin 6-2, 6-2 in the fifth-place match.
• In Flight 3 Singles, Steven won her seventh-place match on Sunday in straight sets, topping UNI's Yangjiaxin Li 7-5, 6-3.
• After taking third in Flight 5 thanks to a walkover, junior Andrea Delgado (Richmond, Texas / Foster [Dallas Baptist]) played a consolation match against Bradley's Jada Iverson and rolled to a 6-3, 6-3 win.
• In Flight 6, Ana Baron (Crown Point, Ind. / Crown Point) won her seventh-place match against Murray State's Molly Null, 6-2, 6-1.

Inside the Matches

• Beckmann leads the team with five doubles wins on the season.
• Delgado owns a team-best singles record of 6-1.
• On Friday, Valpo's Flight 1 Doubles win came over Drake's Dookie/Noor. Dookie was a First Team All-Conference player last season. The Flight 2 Doubles tandem beat Belmont's Sokolovic/Popiol on Friday, and Popiol was a First Team All-MVC performer in doubles last season.
• In doubles, Valpo boasted two third-place finishes and all three doubles teams were in the top four in their respective flights. A Beacon placed fifth or better in four of the six singles flights, and six of Valpo's seven players captured at least one win over the weekend.

Thoughts from Head Coach James Gleghorn
"Today the women returned to form and won the third-place matches at 2 and 3 doubles to set the tone. In singles, we won four matches. It was a strong effort overall for conference singles and doubles championships. I'm really proud of the way we worked this fall. We are going to have a chance to contend in the spring!"
 
Up Next
The ITA Midwest Regional begins on Thursday in Urbana-Champaign, Ill.