Valparaiso's Gardner and Detroit's Slizovskaya Collect Player of the Week Honors

INDIANAPOLIS -- Valparaiso freshman Garrett Gardner (Poland, Ohio) is the Men’s Tennis Player of the Week while Detroit junior Irina Slizovskaya (Saransk, Russia) is the Women’s Tennis Player of the Week for the week of Jan. 20-26.

Valparaiso took the road to face Toledo last Saturday and defeated the Rockets, 5-2. The win was the Crusaders’ first of the spring season as the squad only lost one singles match, despite dropping the doubles point.

Gardner had a solid performance at No. 4 singles and No. 3 doubles, winning each of his matches. In singles against Toledo’s Garrett Cona, Gardner only dropped four games the entire match as the freshman came out with the straight-set victory, 6-2. 6-2. In doubles play with teammate Lucas Waak, the duo grabbed the sole doubles win for Valparaiso, 6-4 over the Rockets’ No. 3 pairing.

Detroit competed in two matches last week, taking on Bowling Green Friday and Eastern Michigan Saturday. On the road for each contest, the Titans defeated the Falcons, 6-1 and pulled-out a close match against the Eagles, 4-3. The squad is now 2-2 for the spring season.

Slizovskaya went 3-0 on the week competing at No. 3 singles and No. 2 doubles for the Titans. Versus Bowling Green, the junior won in straight-sets. 6-1, 6-0 and won her doubles match with teammate Viktoria Laskutova, 6-3. At Eastern Michigan, Slizovskaya won for the second-straight day in straight-sets, 6-1, 6-1 to close out the weekend undefeated after losing only three singles sets.

Valparaiso hosts IPFW on Friday at 3:00 p.m. ET and IUPUI on Saturday starting at 3:30 p.m. ET. Detroit takes the road to face Western Michigan on Friday beginning at 1:00 p.m. ET and faces Tennessee Saturday for a 10:00 a.m. match.

Top Men’s Tennis Players of the Week:
Remi Chancerel, Youngstown State (Fr.): Picked-up a singles win at No. 1 versus Duquesne, 6-4, 6-3.
Dan Gilbert, Wright State (So.): Won at No. 4 singles against Lipscomb, 7-5, 2-6, 6-3.
Carl Hedstrom, UIC (So.): Won in straight-sets at No. 4 singles against DePaul and the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater over the weekend. Also won at No. 1 doubles, 6-2.

Top Women’s Tennis Players of the Week:
Chelsea Bailey, Milwaukee (Sr.): Won at No. 2 singles versus Marquette, 2-6, 6-4, 6-4 and competed at No. 1 singles against Chicago and was victorious 4-6, 6-4, 6-0.
Anna Brendel, Youngstown State (Jr.): Grabbed two wins at No. 3 singles facing Duquesne (3-6, 6-4, 6-4) and Bowling Green (6-1, 6-4). Also won at No. 2 doubles against the Falcons.
Ellen Folkers, Cleveland State (Jr.): Won at No. 5 singles versus Northern Illinois, 6-2, 6-4.
Linsey Verstrepen, Wright State (So.): Collected two wins at No. 6 singles versus Northern Iowa (6-0, 6-1) and Ball State (7-6, 4-6, 6-3). She also won at No. 2 doubles (6-3) and No. 1 doubles (6-4) in the two matches.

Men’s Tennis Players of the Week
Sept. 9: Remi Chancerel, Youngstown State
Sept. 16: Charlie Emhardt, Valparaiso
Sept. 23: Michael Tenzer, Green Bay
Oct. 7: Michael Savaglio, Valparaiso
Oct. 14: Michael Tenzer, Green Bay
Jan. 13: Joe VanMeter, Cleveland State
Jan. 20: Garrett Gardner, Valparaiso

Women’s Tennis Players of the Week
Sept. 9: Chelsea Bailey, Milwaukee
Sept. 16: Paige Heuer, Valparaiso
Sept. 23: Lauren Golick, Cleveland State
Sept. 30: Alysa Straub, Milwaukee
Oct. 7: Victoria Bensimon, Cleveland State
Oct. 14: Dominika Lackova, Youngstown State
Jan. 13: Dominika Lackova, Youngstown State
Jan. 20: Irina Slizovskaya, Detroit