The Valparaiso University tennis team started the day by capturing the doubles point, but Missouri Valley Conference preseason favorite Murray State swept the singles action to win 6-1 on Saturday in Murray, Ky.
 
How It Happened

• Valpo dropped No. 2 Doubles, but the No. 1 Doubles tandem of Alexandra Popa (Glenview, Ill. / Glenbrook South) and Lacey Tanner (Fort Pierce, Fla. / Florida Virtual School) got the job done with a 6-4 win over Melato/Hermanova to create a situation where the doubles point rested on the No. 3 match.
• In that match, Madi Rogers (Clearwater, Fla. / Florida Virtual School [Bradley]) and Andrea Delgado (Richmond, Texas / Foster [Dallas Baptist]) teamed up for a 6-4 win over Chaikovskaia/Dethridge to clinch the doubles point for the Beacons.
• Murray State won in straight sets at No. 2, No. 4 and No.6 singles, but the other three singles matches went to a third set with the Beacons owning a path to victory in the team match if they won all three third sets.
• The No. 1 singles match was a thriller as Moira Silva (Houston, Texas / Westside) bounced back from dropping the opening set 6-2 to Valeria Chaikovskaia by winning on a breaker in the second set, 7-6(4). An evenly-matched third set saw Chaikovskaia edge out a 7-6(5) victory to take the match.
• The No. 3 match saw Tanner take thefirst set but eventually fall in a traditional third, while the No. 5 match used a third-set tiebreak since the team match had already been clinched by the time the second set ended.
• The No. 5 singles match was the closest of the day as each of the first two sets went to a tiebreak and the super breaker was nip-and-tuck as well. When the dust settled, Delgado was on the wrong end of a hard-fought battle with Bruna Meleato, 6-7(4), 7-6(6), 11-9.

Inside the Match

• Valpo won the doubles point against Murray State for the first time in the four matchups between the two teams since the Racers joined the MVC.
• Valpo won the doubles point for the fourth time in the last six matches.
• Popa and Tanner beat a doubles team that included Melato, who was First Team All-Conference at No. 1 Doubles last season.
• Rogers and Delgado beat a doubles team that included Chaikovskaia, who was the other half of the All-MVC First Team pair at No. 1 Doubles a year ago.
• Delgado and Rogers have won three consecutive doubles matches.
• Delgado climbed within one of the team lead by picking up her 12^th doubles win of the season. She has 27 combined wins this year, 15 singles and 12 doubles.

Up Next
The Beacons (10-7, 0-4 MVC) will continue their road swing by heading to Nashville for a crucial match at Belmont on Sunday at 9 a.m. A link to live scoring is available on ValpoAthletics.com.