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The Valparaiso University tennis team rebounded from dropping the doubles point on Sunday morning at the Valpo Tennis Complex, capturing four of the six singles matches to defeat Oakland 4-3. Freshman Alexandra Popa<\/a> (Glenview, Ill. \/ Glenbrook South) came through with the decisive win in the final match to finish, prevailing 7-5 in a close second set.
Inside the Match<\/p>\n
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\nHow It Happened<\/p>\n
\n\tThe Beacons triumphed in the first doubles match to finish, as Moira Silva<\/a> (Houston, Texas \/ Westside) and Brynn Steven<\/a> (Wichita, Kan. \/ Bishop Carroll) won the final four games after the match started at two games all, winning 6-2 at No. 2.
\n\tNo. 3 doubles was tightly contested, but Oakland got a break at 5-4 to win 6-4, leaving the fate of the doubles point resting on the No. 1 match.
\n\tThe top match was a thriller, with Valpo at one point serving for the match up 5-3, but Oakland broke to stay in the match, then held to make it 5-5. Right after third doubles went final, Oakland broke to go up 6-5 and had a chance to serve for the match. Valpo broke on a shot that landed just in on the near sideline to tie the game at six, concluding a long rally. That sent the match to a breaker at 6-6.
\n\tIn the tiebreak, Oakland went up a minibreak at 1-0, then split service points. Valpo split service points and still trailed 3-2, then broke Oakland’s first serve to make it 3-3 as the players switched sides of the court. Oakland came back to split service points, Valpo then split, and then finally the Golden Grizzlies won both service points to take the tiebreak 7-4 and the match 7-6.
\n\tFor the second straight day, Valpo was not deterred by dropping the doubles point. The Golden Grizzlies were in control at No. 3 and No. 4 Singles, so it became clear that most likely Valpo would need to win on the four remaining courts.
\n\tAfter No. 3 Singles went final to make it 2-0 Oakland, Andrea Delgado<\/a> (Richmond, Texas \/ Foster [Dallas Baptist]) finished out a 6-3, 6-2 win over Emilia Jarvinen at No. 5 for the first Beacon victory. The bottom of the lineup got it done for the Brown & Gold, as Jolene Fernandes<\/a> (Calgary, Alberta, Canada) was next off the court with a 6-2, 6-3 win over Tara Montreuil at No. 6 that tied the team score at 2-2.
\n\tSilva continued her successful spring with a 6-2, 6-4 win over Martyna Piechowicz at the top singles spot, giving the Beacons the lead in the team score at 3-2. No. 4 Singles concluded with OU winning to make it 3-3, and the match’s outcome depended upon No. 2 Singles.
\n\tAfter winning the first set 6-3, Popa came through in the clutch moments of a 7-5 victory over Nisa Bulut at No. 2, securing the 4-3 victory for the team.
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\n\tThree of Valpo’s last five matches have featured 4-3 scores, with Valpo now holding a 2-1 record in those matches.
\n\tFor the second straight match, Valpo rallied after winning the doubles point to come away victorious. In four of Valpo’s last five matches, the team that has won the doubles point has lost the match, with Valpo going 3-1 in those four matches.
\n\tThe Beacons own a three-match winning streak.
\n\tSilva picked up her 60th career singles win, improving to 12-2 this season and 10-0 in dual matches.
\n\tThe doubles win was the 52nd of Silva’s career, breaking a tie with Rachel Janssen (2003-2007) and moving her into sole possession of fifth in program history.
\n\tDelgado improved to 11-4 on the season including 9-1 in dual matches. She is on a five-match winning streak, while Silva has won six in a row.
\n\tValpo improved to 3-0 against Oakland under head coach Bob Modesto<\/a>. Prior to his arrival, Valpo had dropped seven straight matches to the Golden Grizzlies.
\n\tPopa’s win came over Bulut, the former Horizon League Freshman of the Year and a former first team all-league performer.
\n\tDelgado beat Jarvinen, a former second team all-league honoree and also the former Horizon League Freshman of the Year.
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\nThe Beacons (8-3) will play another home match next weekend as they host St. Thomas at 2 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 21 at the Courts of Northwest Indiana. That will mark the team’s final match until March 21 with spring break right around the corner.
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