The Moraine Valley Community College women’s tennis team reclaimed the NJCAA Region 4 championship after a solid performance over two days on their home courts in October.
In the final standings, Moraine Valley took first place with 23 points followed by McHenry County College with 18 and Elgin Community College with 12.5.
“McHenry is always great to play, but it’s good we took that crown back from them,” said Head Coach Matt Marusarz.
The Cyclones saw several singles champions, including No. 3 Allyson English (Oak Forest) as she battled Illinois Valley Community College (6-2, 6-2), No. 4 Maya Morris (Sandburg) over McHenry in a big comeback (3-6, 6-1, 10-8), No. 5 Zaina Daghash (Lockport) in a quick rout of Illinois Valley (6-0, 6-2), and No. 6 Gabriela Dabrowski (Argo) as she took down the player from Elgin (6-1, 6-2). Breanne Schultz (Lockport) narrowly lost her No. 1 singles championship match (6-3, 3-6, 10-3) for a second place finish.
“The first day was fun to see the women adjust to everything. We played a lot of good teams. At the end of the day, we did on-the-spot math to see we were up 15-12 over McHenry. If they won all three doubles matches, they would’ve taken first. But our teams were too good,” Marusarz said.
Moraine Valley also had four champions in doubles play: No. 2 English/Morris and No. 3 Dabrowski/Daghash. At No. 1 doubles, Schultz and Johann Laran (Sandburg) took second overall after a tough loss.
With this victory, the Cyclones earned a slot to compete at the NJCAA Division I Women’s Tennis Championship, May 3-7, 2025, in Tyler, Texas.
“It was a perfect season, and I said at the beginning to get those plane tickets to Texas because we’re ready to go. I’m very proud of how they all did,” Marusarz noted. “They’re excited and can’t wait to go.”
This season, the Cyclones earned the Illinois Skyway Collegiate Conference championship as well. While this marks the first time Marusarz has ended the regular season with an undefeated record (8-0), it is his second time as head coach that the team earned a region championship.
Throughout the fall and winter, the players will take private tennis lessons, lift weights and heal from any injuries before they start back up as a team in March.
For updates on Cyclones Athletics, visit mvcyclones.com.
For news media inquiries, contact Maura Vizza, Moraine Valley communications specialist and sports information coordinator, at (708) 974-5742 or Vizzam@morainevalley.edu.
