The Valparaiso University tennis team sent out its seniors and head coach Bob Modesto in style, downing visiting UNI 6-1 in Sunday morning's season finale at The Courts of Northwest Indiana. The victory was the program's 12^th of the season, marking the team's highest overall win total since 2006.  
 
Following the match, seniors Moira Silva (Houston, Texas / Westside) and Madi Rogers (Clearwater, Fla. / Florida Virtual [Bradley]) were recognized as part of a Senior Day ceremony. Rogers spent her final collegiate season with the Brown & Gold after transferring from Bradley, while Silva was a four-year member of the program and cemented herself among the program's all-time greats. Modesto coached the final match of his 36-year coaching career including seven seasons at Valpo, as he began his retirement at the conclusion of Sunday's match.
 
How It Happened

• Valpo prevailed on all three doubles courts, making quick work of the Panthers at No. 2 and No. 3. The No. 2 duo of Silva and Brynn Steven (Wichita, Kan. / Bishop Carroll) was first to finish, getting an early break to go up 2-1 and adding a later break that expanded the lead to 5-2 before serving to clinch the match in a 6-2 victory.
• At No. 3, Andrea Delgado (Richmond, Texas / Foster [Dallas Baptist]) and Rogers rattled off five straight games to close out the match with a 6-1 victory.
• Valpo had clinched the doubles point thanks to the wins on the second and third courts, but they played out the No. 1 doubles match as Lacey Tanner (Fort Pierce, Fla. / Florida Virtual School) and Alexandra Popa (Glenview, Ill. / Glenbrook South) engaged in a tightly-contested showdown. UNI went up 2-0 with an early break, but Valpo broke right back to get back on serve at 2-2. The match stayed on serve until Valpo broke to go up 5-4 and serve for the match. The Panthers broke back to tie it at five games all, and Valpo had a triple break point at 15-30, but UNI battled back to win a deuce point and go up 6-5. Valpo held serve to send it to a tiebreak. UNI went up a mini-break at 2-1 early, but the Panthers then split service points to make it 3-2 and Valpo held on its first serve to make it 3-3 as the teams switched sides of the court. Valpo held on the second serve as well, then UNI split serves and Valpo served out the tiebreak, winning 7-4 on the breaker.
• Junior Jolene Fernandes (Calgary, Alberta, Canada) dropped two total games in her match, pulling away to beat Kayla Santos 6-2, 6-0 at No. 6 in the first match to finish.
• The No. 5 Singles match saw Delgado capture a straight-set victory over Abbie Peterson, 6-3, 6-1.
• Valpo secured the team victory when Steven finalized a 6-1, 6-2 triumph over Andrea Noa Galin at No. 4. Shortly thereafter, Tanner closed out her 2-0 weekend at No. 3 with a 6-4, 6-3 win over Yangjiaxin Li.
• The top two courts were the last matches in action, and Popa wrapped up a triumph over Lucia Schuknect, winning two close sets, 6-4, 6-4.
• A tense first set at No. 1 saw the players exchange breaks midway through the set, and it stayed on serve until Silva broke to go up 6-5, serving for the set. UNI's Andjela Raznatovic broke to send it to a tiebreak, and Silva built up a 5-1 lead in the breaker as the players switched sides of the court. Raznatovic rallied to win a nip-and-tuck breaker 9-7, then took the second set 6-3.

Inside the Match

• The team finished with 12 victories, the program's highest single-season win total since 2006, when Valpo finished 15-8 overall and undefeated in Mid-Continent Conference play en route to an NCAA Tournament appearance.
• This season not only marked Valpo's highest overall win total since joining the Missouri Valley Conference prior to the 2018 season, but also the program's highest overall win total since joining the Horizon League prior to the 2008 season.
• Valpo finished with a .600 winning percentage, the program's best since the team that reached the NCAA Tournament in 2006.
• Valpo tied for the program's highest conference win total since joining the Missouri Valley Conference and since joining the Horizon League. This year's league win total tied for Valpo's highest since going 5-3 in 2007, the program's final year in the Mid-Continent Conference.
• The home team has won the last five head-to-head matches between Valpo and UNI, as this victory allowed Valpo to flip a 5-2 defeat from last season in Cedar Falls.
• The 6-1 win was Valpo's most lopsided victory against a Division-I opponent since April 7, 2024 vs. UNI, also 6-1.
• Valpo finished the season with back-to-back victories, winning each of the final two matches of a season for the first time in program history. This marked Valpo's first set of back-to-back league victories at any point on the calendar since wins over UNI and Missouri State in April 2022.
• Silva closed out her collegiate career with 57 collegiate doubles wins, ranked third in program history behind only Claire and Olivia Czerwonka. She finished her career with a 57-46 doubles record, (.553), finishing eighth in program history in career doubles winning percentage.
• Silva finished 15-8 in doubles this season, good for a .652 winning percentage that ranks tied for 10^th in program history for single-season doubles winning percentage.
• Silva finished with 16 singles wins this season and 68 in her collegiate career, the second most in program history behind only Olivia Czerwonka. She went 68-36 in singles over her four years at Valpo, finishing with a singles winning percentage of .654 that ranks seventh all-time.
• Silva's doubles win on Sunday allowed her to finish her collegiate career with 125 combined victories between singles and doubles.
• Delgado led the team in singles victories this season, going 18-6 overall including 16-3 in dual matches. She boasted a team-best 5-2 conference record, ending the season with three straight wins.
• Delgado finished one win away from cracking the program's all-time top 10 for single-season victories, as her 18 wins puts her tied for 11^th. By virtue of her 18-6 singles record, Silva finished with a .750 singles winning percentage, tied for the ninth best in a single season in program history. Delgado became just the third Valpo player in the last 20 years to win at least 75 percent of her singles matches in a season, joining Jelena Vujanic (2017-18 and 2018-19) and Oliva Czerwonka (2023-24).
• Fernandes finished third on the team with 11 singles wins, going 4-2 in conference play and 9-5 in dual matches. She has 37 total singles wins over her first three seasons.
• Tanner polished off her perfect weekend in singles, becoming the fourth Beacon with double-figure singles victories this season by notching her 10^th of the year.
• Modesto finished with 58 career dual match victories in seven seasons after taking over a program that had won 28 total dual matches in the 12 seasons prior to his arrival.
• Modesto had at least 10 victories in four of his seven seasons after the team had won no more than five matches in a season in the 12 years prior to his arrival, peaking with his highest win total and the program's highest in 20 years this season by recording the 12^th victory of the season in his final collegiate match.