Weekly Notebook (
PDF)
Singles Player of the Week
Daria Walczak, Fr., Drake (Lodz, Poland)
Walczak was undefeated over the weekend with three straight-set matches at No. 3 singles … also teamed with Carmen Palumbo to win doubles matches in the Bulldogs’ wins over South Dakota and Augustana … Drake claimed the doubles point in both those matches to help earn the team’s first two wins of the season … opened the weekend with a 6-3, 6-0 win against Creighton followed by a hard-fought 7-6, 7-6 win over South Dakota … closed Sunday with a convincing 6-2, 6-0 win over her foe from Augustana … in singles action in 2019, she is 3-1 and has also racked up a 3-2 record in doubles.
Doubles Team of the Week
Anna Alons, Fr., Missouri State (Salix, Iowa)
Ellie Burger, So., Missouri State (Chesterfield, Mo.)
In the No. 1 doubles spot for Missouri State, Anna Alons and Ellie Burger dominated to beat their SIUE opponents by a margin of 6-1. The Bears would go on to edge SIUE, 4-3 to earn their first win of the spring season.
Other Top Performances:
Singles:
Sandra Maletin, Bradley
After teaming with junior Natalia Barbery for an extended, 7-6 (11-9) win at No. 1 Doubles in Saturday’s dual against defending WAC champion UMKC, Maletin put the Braves on the board with an impressive 6-3, 6-3 win against Kangaroos star senior Katie Fries, who entered this season as UMKC’s all-time leader in career singles winning percentage (.756) … With Saturday’s win, Maletin (9-3) picked up her team-leading ninth singles win overall this year.
Jana Kustkova, Illinois State
Senior Jana Kustkova went 2-0 this weekend helping Illinois State win against Detroit Mercy (4-3) and current WAC Champion UMKC (4-0). On Saturday she clinched the fourth team point for the Redbirds at #3 spot against Detroit Mercy’s C. Apawti 6-4, 6-4. She picked up her second win on Sunday at #4 spot, beating UMKC’s G. Ball 6-4, 6-3. Jana is having a perfect start to her season and is currently undefeated with 3-0 record in singles and 3-0 record in doubles.
Clara Gandara-Gonzalez, Missouri State
Gandara-Gonzalez, in the No. 6 singles spot, played a crucial role in Missouri State’s 4-3 come back win over SIU Edwardsville on Sunday. With two Bears’ singles points tying up the match 3-3, Gandara-Gonzalez handed her SIUE opponent a 6-1, 6-4 defeat to clinch the Bears first win of the spring season. The victory marked her first collegiate win in a dual.
Claire Czerwonka, Valparaiso
Czerwonka led the way for a short-handed Valpo squad that played a pair of matches with only four healthy players this weekend. She picked up a three-set win over Butler’s Emily Neal on Saturday before losing to IUPUI in two close sets on Sunday. In the victory over Neal, Czerwonka recovered after dropping the first set 6-1 by winning Set 2 6-0 and Set 3 6-3. The sophomore has seven wins this season and 21 for her collegiate career.
Doubles:
Veronika Golanova/Jana Kustkova, Illinois State
Veronika Golanova and Jana Kustkova paired up for a crucial 6-4 win at #1 doubles spot against UMKC’s Grechkina/Sharma. That win secured the doubles point for Illinois State, as they went on to beat UMKC 4-0 on Sunday. Golanova paired up with freshman Tara Damnjanovic later that day to get a 6-0 win over Lewis University’s Trus/Sredojevic. On Saturday, Kustkova partnered with Laura Fitzgerald and picked up a 6-4 win against Detroit Mercy’s Thioux/Torcello. Redbirds went on to beat Detroit Mercy 4-3.
Randi Wind/Jordan Kopfer, Valparaiso
Wind and Kopfer did not play doubles together at all during the fall season and had done so just once in each of the last two years, but they were paired together this weekend in the No. 2 slot due to a rash of injuries. The two showed significant progress from Saturday’s match against Butler to Sunday’s against IUPUI, bouncing back from a Saturday setback with a 6-3 win over an IUPUI duo. That marked a bright spot of a 7-0 defeat on Sunday for a Valpo team that was competing with only four healthy players due to injuries. Sunday’s win allowed Kopfer to improve to 5-2 in doubles action this season, while Wind also garnered her fifth doubles victory in 2018-19.