Box Score Central, SC- On Sunday, Converse traveled to Southern Wesleyan for a conference match that held heavy post-season implications. A match that was supposed to be played Saturday, but tornado warnings and thunderstorms led to the move to Sunday, the two teams did not hold back in what was a raucous and entertaining day of tennis.
               With SWU hosting senior day, a sizeable crowd was in attendance and made their presence known in a spirited atmosphere from the start. The Valkyries started hot, countering the roars and cheers of the crowd with a 6-2 victory at the number 3 doubles spot from Anna Klasson and Valentina Aparicio. The Warriors, however, lived up to their name quickly coming back with a 6-2 win of their own at number 1 doubles, leaving the spotlight on the number 2 spot. Doubles pair Belen Vendrell and Marleen Prinz weathered some adversity from the wind, crowd, and the pressure given by the other team to emerge victorious 6-4, much to the excitement of the Valkyrie team as the stormed the pair in celebration.
              Going into singles with a 1-0 lead for the third consecutive conference match, the Valkyries and Warriors continued the back-and-forth affair. SWU won the first sets at numbers 1, 2, and 3, while Converse captured first sets at 4, 5, and 6. Anna Klasson and Valentina Aparicio pushed the opponents to the brink, as they did against NGU just two days prior, by each emerging victorious in straight sets. SWU attempted to swing back by winning the number 1 singles position, but Prinz sealed the win for the Valkyries with her 6-1 6-4 triumph at number 4, giving the Valkyries their second straight road conference victory.
              However, the battles were not done yet. SWU won the number 3 singles, shrinking the lead of the Valkyries to just 4-2 with one match remaining. Tonya Glogowski-Watson had just won the second set to force a 3^rd set at number 2 singles. The final set was full of flows and swings, a microcosm of the team match as a whole. Playing a tiebreaker to 10, win by 2, Glogowski-Watson leapt out to a 9-6 lead, earning herself three match points. SWU battled back, and took a 10-9 lead and continued to take leads as Glogowski-Watson held off numerous match points before finally taking a 15-14 lead. "I was nervous during the last part of my match. It had been pretty close the whole way through and I really wanted to win. Luckily, I have had a few close matches this year, so I felt good going into the tiebreak. I think I managed to keep my focus and kept playing my game," she said of the third set. Her game is one that continues to attack. With her own match point, Glogowski-Watson took a short ball and ripped it to approach the net. Battling off multiple pass attempts from her opponent, Glogowski-Watson lunged left to pick up a ball, lost her balance, sprung up and found her forehand volley to win the match with a final score of 3-6 6-4 16-14. "She just keeps fighting. She wants to win more than anybody I've been around and that is really a symbol of our team is that hunger to keep competing, but also the discipline to stay within ourselves and be the best version of who we are. And we are lucky that Tonya is one heck of a player to be able to do what she did today. But I won't lie, I needed to find out if there was possible medical treatment nearby in case my heart exploded from that stress," Poda said of the epic conclusion.
Looking Ahead: The Valkyries have won 2 conference matches in a row. They travel to Lees McRae on Tuesday for their 3^rd conference match in 5 days. First serve is at noon.