MVC Tennis Weekly Honors (Apr. 21)
 

ST. LOUIS — The Missouri Valley Conference revealed the tennis weekly honors on Tuesday. UIC’s Dongke Liu was named Single’s Player of the Week, and Valparaiso’s Lacey Tanner and Alexandra Popa earned Doubles Team of the Week honors.

Singles Player of the Week
Dongke Liu, Soph., LiaoNing, China - UIC

Dongke Liu was named Singles Player of the week after playing a pivotal role in UIC’s women’s tennis team clinching the Missouri Valley Conference regular season title on Saturday. Liu opened her week as the No. 2 singles player for the Flames, first getting a straight-sets victory over UNI’s Yangjiaxin Li (6-1,6-3). She would later bump up to the No. 1 singles player Sunday against Drake, facing off against Maja Dodik. Dongke would remain dominant on the court, collecting her second straight set victory over the weekend (6-2, 6-4). 

Doubles Team of the Week
Lacey Tanner, Soph., Fort Pierce, Fla. | Alexandra Popa, Fresh., Glenview, Ill. - Valparaiso

Valpo's No. 1 Doubles team of Lacey Tanner and Alexandra Popa went 2-0 at the top spot this week, helping Valpo to a 2-0 team week with victories over Drake and UNI. Popa and Tanner topped Drake's Dodik/Dookie 6-4 on Saturday, helping Valpo to a 4-3 victory for the first win over the Bulldogs in program history. Tanner and Popa teamed up for a dramatic 7-6(4) victory over UNI's top tandem of Raznatovic/Schuknecht on Sunday in the team's 6-1 victory over the Panthers, helping Valpo clinch its highest overall win total since 2006.