Moraine Valley women’s tennis team grabs big wins at nationals

It’s been a long winter since the Moraine Valley Community College women’s tennis team played organized matches, the last being their second place finish in the NJCAA Region IV Tournament on Oct. 12. Since then, they practiced hard for a challenging matchup at the NJCAA Tournament, May 4-9, in Tyler, Texas. In the Cyclones’ sixth trip, they had enough grit to earn some big wins, a first for the college.

The unquestionable thriller was Tricia Poremba (Main) at sixth singles. For the first time in seven years, Moraine Valley won a main draw match. The undefeated All-Conference and All-Region player took 3.5 hours in a three-set battle to knock out a player from Mississippi. This win earned the Cyclones their first points of the tournament. Poremba’s second match was against a consistent Pima (Arizona) player and was a near repeat of her first match, but ended in a loss.

Poremba set the tone for the Cyclones. Eisenhower grad Liz Dominguez (first singles), Oak Lawn product Claudia Maka (fourth singles), and Andrew alum Alexa Armon (third singles) all won consolation singles matches. Maka maintained her focus, and dominated in a win over Oxford College of Emory. She eventually lost in the quarterfinals, fighting all the way. Team captain Armon's quarterfinal consolation win was meaningful because it was against conference rival Elgin Community College. She won on a big stage with a convincing 8-4 victory. In her semi-final consolation match, Armon faced a tough player from Snead State (Alabama), taking a heartbreaking loss. At fifth singles, Lindsey Walker (Andrew) nearly won her main draw match.

 “This was a particularly special trip for me as head coach. I was fortunate enough to compete at this level as a Moraine Valley player. To be back there as a coach meant the world to me,” Selvaggio explained. “More importantly, we left a positive, lasting impression on everyone at that tournament. We may not be able to practice year-round in nice weather like the majority of the schools there, but we proved that we are capable of competing with them. The majority of this year's squad will return next year. With this nationals experience under their belts, I know that their level of play will be 10 times higher. This was the most successful showing in the history of our program. We made it to day four of a five-day national tournament with 31 schools. What a way to start my collegiate coaching career. What an even better way for the Cyclones to make a name for themselves. I am so proud of the way they represented themselves, our program and our school.”