MVC Tennis Weekly Honors (Mar. 24)
ST. LOUIS — The Missouri Valley Conference announced the women’s tennis weekly honors on Tuesday. Yu Kikawa of Murray State was named Singles Player of the Week, Moira Silva and Brynn Steven of Valparaiso were named Doubles Team of the Week.
Singles Player of the Week
Yu Kikawa, Soph., (Fukuoka, Japan) - Murray State
The Junior from Fukuoka, Japan went 2-0 in singles play for the weekend playing at the number 3 position (6-3, 6-2 over Brescia and 6-3, 3-6, 6-2 over Western Kentucky). She also had an unfinished match against Lipscomb
where she led the contest by a 7-6, 1-0 score. Her singles victory on Sunday clinched the win for the Racers over in-state rival Western Kentucky. Kikawa holds a 7-4 record this Spring and leads the team with 17 total singles wins for the 2025-2026 season.
Doubles Team of the Week
Moira Silva, Sr., (Houston, Texas) | Brynn Steven, Soph., (Wichita, Kansas) - Valparaiso
The Valpo No. 2 Doubles tandem of Moira Silva and Brynn Steven did not drop a game in their 6-0 whitewash of Chicago State's Camila Sanchez and Nikita Liyanage on Saturday. Their success helped Valpo win the doubles
point and prevail 5-2 in the team's lone match of the week. Silva and Steven improved to 7-0 when playing doubles together this season. Silva notched her team-best 12th doubles win of the season and the 54th of her career, moving her into a tie for fourth in program history. As a team, the Beacons secured their fifth straight win to improve their record to 10-3 entering Missouri Valley Conference play.
Additional Notes:
Murray State has been dominating, as the Racers were picked as the preseason favorite in the Missouri Valley Conference poll with seven first-place votes and 63 points. UIC was close behind in second with the remaining first-place vote and 55 points, while Belmont (44) and Illinois State (43) were nearly even in third and fourth. UIC enters the year as the defending MVC champion after winning its first conference title in 2025. Conference play begins the weekend of March 27, with the MVC Championship set for April 24–26 in Chicago.