PORTLAND, Ore. — Sabina-Elena Preda is living her dream and hopes she's living just the beginning of it.

The 19-year-old Viking freshman tennis player dreamed about getting an education and playing college tennis as a teenager in Bucharest, Romania.  More specifically, she dreamed of doing those things in the United States.

"I always dreamed of playing college tennis and getting an education. We don't have college athletics in Romania. I played in tournaments (in fact, she has a Women's Tennis Association (WTA) ranking) all over Europe," she said.

She knew that U.S. coaches would watch her play, but hadn't really thought about where she might play when an offer came from the University of Portland.

Through a coaching connection, Preda knew of former Viking assistant tennis coach and fellow Romanian Angelo Niculescu. So, she called him to check that out…and he asked her if she'd be interested in playing for Portland State.

"I said 'yeah, why not?,'" and she searched Portland on line. After all, Portland is nearly 6,000 miles from Bucharest and she knew little about the U.S. west coast.

What she saw interested her.

"I saw Portland. It's the only west coast city that looks like Europe. There are no really high buildings and the weather is similar. We get a bit more snow, but it reminds me of home. All that helps," she said.

For Portland State's part, head coach Jay Sterling was delighted when Niculescu told him there might be a Romanian prospect for the improving Viking women's team.

"I'd been encouraging him to recruit in Romania because there are a lot of good tennis players coming from there. But, making connections is hard because there are a lot of changes going on with the tennis federation there," Sterling said.

PSU's coaches watched her play and talked to her parents.

"My parents thought it was a good opportunity for me, but I'm an only child, so it was hard to let me go. Now, they know it was the right decision because they see the opportunities," she said mentioning post-college job opportunities (she's majoring in mathematics and wants to eventually be an actuary).

"There are a lot of things you can do here…and my dream is to play WTA tennis," she said.

And that part of her dream could well be within reach, Sterling said.

"She's an excellent tennis player.  She has a lot of potential.  Of course, she has work to do, but with improved footwork and volleys, she has the ability to be a world class tennis player," he said.

Preda hits left handed, and that's an advantage.

"I'm a lefty. It's hard for people to play lefties because of the opposite spin. I like my serve because it causes a lot of problems because of the spin," she said, agreeing with Sterling that she currently has a strong forehand and has worked to improve her backhand so that it's almost as good as her forehand.

She began preparing for her trip to the U.S. even before she decided she wanted to come here.

"When I was little, I liked the sound of English. I would say words, then look them up to see what they meant," Preda said, who's so fluent it's easy to forget that English is her second language. "I watched a lot of movies and listened to a lot of music to improve my English. I wanted to know every word. If I didn't know something, I looked it up. Also, there was a high school teacher who helped me a lot."

She had friends studying…or who had studied…in America as well, who briefed her on cultural differences so she wouldn't be too surprised at what she found.

"I was surprised to see the yellow busses (school busses), I thought those busses were just in the movies. I was surprised to see they really existed," she said.

She also finds Americans really nice and helpful.

"Romanian isn't much like English and sometimes I have to ask a word. Sometimes, I ask people to explain the meaning of a word. They're very nice. In terms of differences, Portland is a developed city (and just a little smaller than Bucharest's 1.8 million population), so it's not that different. People are more open here than in Romania."

All of that has helped her get a good start to her time at Portland State.

"She's handling her freshman year pretty well, and that's always tough," Sterling said. "There's a different level of academics, the lack of sleep, not to mention the new culture and she's speaking a second language. She's excellent with the language and our team sometimes forgets that English is her second language."

Preda also believes she is adapting pretty well.

"I'm pretty fast to pick things up," she said. "I'm not the type of person to complain. I try to keep up."

But, she also admits that it hasn't always been easy. To keep up with her new schedule, she's had to become super organized.

"I'm tightly scheduled. Everything I do is on my schedule…classes, practice, strength exercises, sleeping. I have things set up for a 10-minute warning.  I get a warning 10 minutes before I'm supposed to be somewhere," she said.

And finding enough time to sleep has been difficult.

Currently her parents, Marius-Gabriel and Coralia Preda, are on an extended two-month stay in Portland (they have their own businesses and can take time away).

"I've been really tired trying to keep up with everything. Knowing they're here supporting me has made a big difference," she said. When they're not here, she texts them daily and talks with them on Skype three times each week.

Preda has been impressed with the level of competition in the Big Sky Conference.

"Division I tennis is almost like the professional level at home. I had a ranking, so I knew what to expect. The only difference is that you're the only one there. Here, it's a team sport. We're supporting each other and we're winning or losing as a team," she said.

That familiarity helped earn her Big Sky Player of the Week honors the week of Feb. 23 for going 4-0 in singles and doubles and helping the Vikings to their first-ever win over Northern Arizona, and that kind of accolade is exactly why she's here.

"I'm proud of being Player of the Week. That's why I'm here. I played really well and I'm working to do it again. It makes me work harder to try getting another one," she said.

As with many college athletes, she's finding that her schedule precludes a social life.

"I don't have time to make friends. It's study, tennis and conditioning. My friends are my teammates," she said.

Still, her teammates and coaches did supply here with a memorable social experience in Long Beach, Calif., on her 19th birthday last fall.
"I was excited about my birthday and the coaches joked and said we were going to McDonald's that night. I was even trying to think what I should order…salad or what. My teammates were in on the joke, too, and were telling me what they would order."

Next door to McDonald's was a Moroccan restaurant, the real destination. "I even had a little baklava with a candle in it. I loved being with my teammates," Preda said.

"It happened there was belly dancing entertainment and my teammates encouraged me to go dance. The instructor showed me how and it was OK. I think I did OK. I was embarrassed, but it was fun!"

While it doesn't appear that Preda is planning a side career in belly dancing, Sterling expects her tennis career at Portland State to be noteworthy.

"The scary thing is that as good as she is, she still has a lot of potential left," he said.