Valparaiso's Savaglio and Cleveland State's Bensimon Collect Player of the Week Honors

INDIANAPOLIS --  Valparaiso junior Michael Savaglio (Kenosha, Wis.) is the Men’s Tennis Player of the Week while Cleveland State sophomore Victoria Bensimon (Cocoa Beach, Fla.) is the Women’s Tennis Player of the Week for the week of Oct. 7 - Oct. 13.

The Valparaiso men’s tennis team hosted the Valpo Fall Invitational for a two-day event. The Crusaders hosted teams from Cardinal Stritch, Western Illinois and Chicago State.

Savaglio led Valparaiso in singles play, collecting three straight-set wins over the weekend. In his first match of the Invitational, he faced Western Illinois’ Chris Bunch and defeated him 6-0, 6-4. The following day, the junior took on Chicago State’s Julian Chavez and won 6-1, 7-6 and closed out the weekend with another win against Cardinal Stritch’s Jimmy Le, 6-0, 6-2. In doubles play with teammate Lucas Waak, the duo picked up two victories against teams from Chicago State (8-4) and Cardinal Stritch (8-4).

The Cleveland State women’s team competed in the University of Buffalo Fall Invitational this past weekend. The squad went up against teams from Niagara and UB over the course of the two-day event.

Bensimon competed in the Flight B singles at the Invitational and went 2-1 over the weekend. In her first match against Niagara’s Maria Ortiz, the sophomore won the first set 1-6, dropped the second 2-6 and picked up the victory after winning the third set 6-2. In her next match versus Buffalo’s Dayana Adasieva, Bensimon fell 6-4, 6-0. However, she rallied back in her third match of the Invitational to defeat Niagara’s Ashley Ta in straight sets. In Flight A doubles competition with Jana Schober, the duo picked up the title after collecting wins over two pairs from Buffalo.

Valparaiso continues competition at the ITA Regionals in Ann Arbor, Mich. beginning Thursday, October 16th. The Vikings will carry on matches Thursday as well at the ITA Midwest Regional, taking place in Champaign, Ill.

Top Men’s Tennis Players of the Week:
Nathan Ponton, Detroit (Fr.): Went perfect on the weekend picking up a pair of singles and doubles wins, all at No. 1.
Jorg van der Vloet, Cleveland State (Sr.): Went 2-1 in singles action over the weekend while compiling a 1-1 doubles record.

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

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