POCATELLO, Idaho — The Portland State women's tennis returned to its winning ways Saturday, as the Vikings pulled out a tight, 4-3 road win over Idaho State at the Bengals' Reed Gym.
 
The Vikings (5-4, 2-2 Big Sky) snap a two-match losing streak with their win over the Bengals (0-4, 0-3 Big Sky), and return to .500 in Big Sky play after losing a pair of matches to conference-favorites Montana and Sacramento State.
 
Doubles proved decisive for the Vikings Saturday, as their doubles-point victory gave the team the advantage as the team's split the six singles matches, 3-3. The Vikings won decisively at lines one and two in doubles, too, as junior Dané Vorster and Siena Peri beat Idaho State's Marian Tangarife and Laura Theus 6-0 at line one, while sophomores Tracy Dong and Sabina-Elena Preda beat Idaho State's Taylor Cole and Svenja Tegtmeier 6-2 at line two.
 
The Vikings have now won the doubles point in two straight matches, after losing the point in three straight matches before that. The Vikings had been just 2-5 in doubles after their three straight doubles-point losses, but now stand 4-5 on the season after Saturday.
 
Saturday's win also marks the second time the Vikings have won a match 4-3 after winning the doubles point this season, following the team's 4-3 win over Lewis-Clark State on Jan. 31. That win kicked off a four-match win streak for the Vikings, something the Vikings will hope they can duplicate as they continue on the road for the next six weeks.
 
The Vikings had to fight off a comeback from the Bengals to secure the win Saturday, however. Tangarife beat Vorster 7-5, 6-4 at line one to start off singles for the Bengals, and the Bengals followed that up with wins at lines four and six to level the match at 3-3. That just left the match at line five, where senior Megan Govi faced Idaho State's Madelyn Weltzin to decide it all.
 
Govi took the first set off Weltzin, 6-3, but then found herself in a battle in the second set as Weltzin took her into a tiebreaker. Once there, the two players went back-and-forth in the tiebreaker, before Govi eventually gutted out an 8-6 win to wrap up the match and the overall dual for Portland State.
 
Govi has now won the decisive fourth point for the Vikings in two of the team's five wins this season, a season after she won the fourth point in three of the team's six Big Sky wins during the 2014 regular season. Govi also now has 39 wins in her Portland State career, and will become the first Viking to ever crack the 40-win plateau with her next win.
 
Freshman Siena Peri and sophomore Tracy Dong, meanwhile, pulled out wins at lines two and three, respectively, to put Govi in position to close out the dual for the Vikings.
 
Peri made a dramatic turnaround in her match against Tegtmeier at line two, as she dropped the first to Tegtmeier, 6-1, but then lost only two games after that while winning the second and third sets, 6-0, 6-2. Dong, meanwhile, pulled out a couple of tight sets in her match against Idaho State's Wiebke Boeckmann at line three, but pulled out each one to win 6-4, 7-5.
 
Like the Vikings, Dong's win Saturday returns the sophomore to her winning ways, as she had her five-match winning streak snapped in her last match as the Vikings faced Sacramento State on Feb. 22. Dong has still won 10 of her last 12 matches, however, and leads the Vikings with a 7-2 record during the team's 2015 dual season.
 
Dong and the Vikings will hope to continue winning Sunday, as they face Weber State on the road at 10 a.m. (MT). The Vikings have never beaten Weber State on the road before, as they are 0-6 all-time in Ogden, Utah.
 
Match Notes: The Vikings improve to 6-8 all-time against Idaho State with their win Saturday…All six of the Vikings' wins over the Bengals have come in their last eight matches…The Vikings have also now won four straight matches over the Bengals at Idaho State.
 
Portland State 4, Idaho State 3
Feb 28, 2015 at Pocatello, Idaho (Reed Gym) 

Singles competition

1. TANGARIFE, Marian (ISU) def. VORSTER, Dane (PSU) 7-5, 6-4

2. PERI, Siena (PSU) def. TEGTMEIER, Svenja (ISU) 1-6, 6-0, 6-2

3. DONG, Tracy (PSU) def. BOECKMANN, Wiebke (ISU) 6-4, 7-5

4. THEUS, Laura (ISU) def. PREDA, Sabina-Elena (PSU) 3-6, 6-1, 6-4

5. GOVI, Megan (PSU) def. WELTZIN, Madelyn (ISU) 6-3, 7-6 (8-6)

6. GUTIERREZ, Laura (ISU) def. FREY, Kelsey (PSU) 6-4, 6-4

 

Doubles competition

1. VORSTER, Dane/PERI, Siena (PSU) def. TANGARIFE, Marian/THEUS, Laura (ISU) 6-0

2. DONG, Tracy/PREDA, Sabina-Elena (PSU) def. COLE, Taylor/TEGTMEIER, Svenja (ISU) 6-2

3. WELTZIN, Madelyn/BOECKMANN, Wiebke (ISU) vs. FREY, Kelsey/GOVI, Megan (PSU) 3-2, unfinished

 

Match Notes

Portland State 5-4, 2-2 BSC

Idaho State 0-4, 0-3 BSC

Order of finish: Doubles (1,2); Singles (1,2,3,4,6,5)