CHENEY, Wash. – The Portland State women's tennis team put a final exclamation point on a season that was filled with team and individual successes, as the squad defeated, rival Eastern Washington, in Cheney, Wash., Friday afternoon. After failing to secure the doubles point the Viks dug deep and earned four singles victories to defeat the Eagles 4-3, improving to 12-12 overall land 3-7 in conference to finish the year.

The Eagles looked dominant in doubles play, possibly boosted by the warm reception given to its four seniors honored before the match.

Moira Hedberg and Chelsea Patton downed Marina Todd and Nayanatara Vadali, 8-4, while Chrissy Uriarte and Alexis Filliol defeated Mandy Mallen and Marti Pellicano, 8-5 to take the doubles point.

Portland State ended doubles action with a bit of momentum however, as the team of Kelsey Frey and Megan Govi edged the Eagles tandem of Ryann Warner and Rocio Norena, 8-6. With that win the duo ended their season with a 10-4 mark, the second best doubles record on the team.

With the Eagles up 1-0, the Viks needed to take at least four of six singles matches to earn the victory.

Eastern Washington jumped out to a 2-0 lead as Hedberg bested Mallen from the No. 1 spot, winning, 6-1, 6-2.

Frey got PSU on the board with its first singles win as she battled through a nagging shoulder injury to defeat Patton, 6-3, 6-3. The freshman concluded her first season with PSU with an impressive 13-8 singles mark having gone 5-4 in Big Sky contests.

On line No. 5 Pellicano finished her career with a dominating win, as she defeated Filliol, 6-0, 6-1 to knot the match score up at 2-2. The senior from Tualatin, Ore., made her final season on the Park Blocks, her best, finishing with the team's second-best singles record, earning a mark of 14-9 and a 5-5 record in conference.

Govi finished the season just like it started, with another singles victory, giving Portland State its first lead in the match as she battled Warner to a 6-3, 7-6 (7) win. Govi comes away with the best numbers a PSU tennis athlete has ever recorded; setting the new single season wins record with a 17-6 mark. She also broke a new PSU record on Saturday as she is now the new singles season conference wins record-holder, having gone 7-3 against Big Sky schools.

Eastern Washington evened the match up at 3-3 on court No. 2 as Todd came up on the short end of an exhausting three-set battle against Uriarte. Uriarte took the first set 7-6 but was bested in the second by the scrappy Todd. Uriarte pulled away in the third frame however, taking the decisive set, 6-3.

The match came down to Alexa McDonald's court, a similar situation that had faced her in an earlier match against Weber State. This time however the sophomore came through for the Vikings, defeating Norena, 6-3, 6-4, battling for every point from the No. 6 spot. McDonald ended the season as one of four PSU players to reach double-digit singles wins as she concludes 2013 with a 11-10 overall mark, greatly improving upon her five-win freshman campaign.

Portland State finishes the year as the first team out of the Big Sky tournament, coming in seventh of 11 teams. The Viks showed terrific progress this past season however, winning three conference matches, its best mark since 2010. It also sets the program best mark in overall wins.

Further illustrating the progress of the program, of the top-four singles wins leaders on the team, the Vikings will return three of them, as Pellicano is the only one of the four that will graduate.

Check back to GoViks.com as the team will shortly celebrate the end of the year banquet and announce the 2013 season awards, honoring key members of this year's squad.
 
Portland State 4, Eastern Washington 3
Apr 19, 2013 at Cheney, Wash. (Thorpe Fieldhouse) 

Singles competition

1. HEDBERG, Moira (EWU) def. MALLEN, Mandy (PSU) 6-1, 6-2

2. URIARTE, Chrissy (EWU) def. TODD, Marina (PSU) 7-6, 6-7, 6-3

3. FREY, Kelsey (PSU) def. PATTON, Chelsea (EWU) 6-3, 6-3

4. GOVI, Megan (PSU) def. WARNER, Ryann (EWU) 6-3, 7-6

5. PELLICANO, Marti (PSU) def. FILLIOL, Alexis (EWU) 6-0, 6-1

6. MCDONALD, Alexa (PSU) def. NORENA, Rocio (EWU) 6-3, 6-4

 

Doubles competition

1. HEDBERG, Moira/PATTON, Chelsea (EWU) def. TODD, Marina/VADALI, Nayanatara (PSU) 8-4

2. URIARTE, Chrissy/FILLIOL, Alexis (EWU) def. MALLEN, Mandy/PELLICANO, Marti (PSU) 8-5

3. FREY, Kelsey/GOVI, Megan (PSU) def. WARNER, Ryann/NORENA, Rocio (EWU) 8-6

 

Match Notes

Portland State 12-12, 3-7 Big Sky

Eastern Washington 6-16, 3-7 Big Sky

Singles Order of Finish: 1,3,5,4,2,6