Complete match notes (PDF)

PORTLAND, Ore. — The Portland State women's tennis team (5-5, 2-3 Big Sky) takes a two-match swing through Colorado this weekend, as they face Colorado College and Northern Colorado. The Vikings play Colorado College in Colorado Springs, Colo., Friday at 1 p.m. (MT), and then return to Big Sky play with a match against Northern Colorado in Greeley, Colo., Saturday at 10 a.m. (MT).
 
SCOUTING COLORADO COLLEGE:
The Colorado College Tigers (1-0), out of the Division III Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference, opened their 2015 dual season with a 9-0 win over Colorado Christian on Feb. 20. The Tigers are coming off a 6-13 season in 2014, when they placed third in the SCAC. This season, the Tigers have a relatively young roster with six freshmen on their 12-player roster. One of the team's freshmen, Fiona Cerf, played at line one for the Tigers in their season opener against Colorado Christian, and teamed up with senior Mary Edman at line one in doubles. Edman, meanwhile, played at line two in singles for the Tigers, while freshman Natalia Dellavalle and senior Maggie Harwood played at line three and four, respectively. Sophomores Maddie Cahill-Sanidas and Gillian Hyde also played at lines five and six, respectively, for the Tigers, giving them underclassmen at four of the six spots in the team's lineup.
 
ALL-TIME SERIES VERSUS COLORADO COLLEGE:
Saturday's match will be the first ever between the Vikings and Colorado College.
 
SCOUTING NORTHERN COLORADO:
The Northern Colorado Bears (4-8, 1-2 Big Sky) will be another big test for the Vikings, as they have never beaten the Bears on the road. The Bears beat the Vikings 6-1 in Greeley to open Big Sky play last season, but the Vikings came back to finish ahead of the Bears as the fourth seed in the Big Sky Tournament at the end of the season. Both teams were also picked to make the Big Sky Tournament this season, though each team will enter their match Sunday under .500 in Big Sky play so far this season, giving Sunday's match added importance. The Bears enter the match 1-2 in Big Sky play after beating Eastern Washington, 4-3, but lost 5-2 to Idaho and Montana State. The Vikings beat Montana State, 5-2, when they played them this season, and also beat Seattle, 4-3, while the Redhawks beat the Bears, 4-3, last Saturday. Individually, the Bears return only one of their two All-Big Sky honorable-mention selections from last season in sophomore Beth Coton. Coton has been playing with fellow sophomore Courtney Schulte at line one in doubles for the Bears, and has a 5-6 record with her so far this season, including a 1-2 record in Big Sky play. Senior Chrissie Hoolahan and freshman Lea Krajcovicova, meanwhile, have alternated at line one and two in singles for the Bears, with Krajcovicova taking over the top spot for the Bears' last three matches going into the weekend. Krajcovicova has a 1-2 record at line one in her three matches at the spot, but had a 7-1 record at line two. Singles have in general been a struggle for the Bears so far this season, as the Bears have only won four or more singles matches in three of their 12 matches so far this season.
 
ALL-TIME SERIES VERSUS NORTHERN COLORADO:
The Vikings are 1-6 all-time against Northern Colorado, with their lone win against the Bears coming in 2011, when the Vikings won 4-3 at home. The Vikings are 0-4 all-time against Northern Colorado on the road, and have lost all four matches by 6-1 scores.
 
VIKINGS SPLIT PAIR OF CLOSE MATCHES AT IDAHO STATE, WEBER STATE:
The Vikings split a pair of 4-3 decisions on the road at Idaho State and Weber State last weekend, beating the Bengals, 4-3, Saturday before losing to the Wildcats by the same score Sunday. Doubles proved decisive in both of the Vikings' matches, as the teams' split the six singles matches in each match, making the doubles point the decider. The Vikings swept the doubles matches against Idaho State, with Dané Vorster and Siena Peri winning 6-0 at line one, while sophomores Tracy Dong and Sabina-Elena Preda winning 6-2 at line two. Peri, Dong and senior Megan Govi all then won for the Vikings in singles, with Govi clinching the dual win with a 6-3, 7-6 (6) win over the Bengals' Madelyn Weltzin. Peri, Dong and Govi also all won their matches against the Wildcats Sunday, but the Wildcats won the doubles point this time, giving them the edge as the team's split the six singles matches. The Wildcats beat the Vikings at line one and two in doubles, with their 6-4 win at line one clinching the doubles point for Weber State.
 
LOOKING AHEAD:
The Vikings continue on the road at North Dakota, as they play UND in Grand Forks, N.D. at 1 p.m. (CT) on March 14.
 
MEGAN GOVI BECOMES ALL-TIME LEADER IN SINGLES AND DOUBLES WINS:
Senior Megan Govi became the all-time leader in doubles wins Sunday, as her 6-2 win with Kelsey Frey over Weber State's Emily Tanner and Megan Rindlisbacher at line three gave her 31 wins in her career, one more than Anya Dalkin, who recorded 30 wins from 2008-11. The wins lead in doubles gives Govi the career lead in both singles and doubles wins at Portland State now, as Govi set the singles record last season. Govi now has 40 singles wins in her Portland State career after Sunday, 13 more than any other player in program history.
 
HISTORY MAKERS:
Besides Megan Govi, several other Vikings stand on the verge of making history, including senior Alexa McDonald who stands one win away from moving into a tie for second all-time in career singles wins with Leinani McAneney and Marti Pellicano at 27. Sophomore Kelsey Frey has also moved up the career ranks this season, as she ranks tied for 11th all-time with 14 career singles wins, and moved into sole possession of eighth place in career doubles wins with her win along with Govi against Weber State on March 1. Frey now has 18 career doubles wins, and will move into a tie for sixth all-time with one more win.
 
TRACY DONG, MAKING A TEAR THROUGH THE PSU RECORD BOOK:
Sophomore Tracy Dong has 11 wins in her past 13 matches at Portland State, and has been making an assault on the Portland State record book all season. Dong already has six wins at line three in singles, putting her only two wins from tying the single-season record for wins at the position, which teammate Kelsey Frey set with eight in 2013. Dong is also on pace to break the record for overall win percentage in a single season, as her current .800 win percentage (8-2) is better than the current record of .765, set by Yuki Sugiyama with a 13-4 record in 2011. Additionally, Dong and doubles partner Sabina-Elena Preda will move into a tie for the second-best single-season win total at No. 2 doubles with their next win.
 
UP AND DOWN SEASON IN DOUBLES:
The Vikings have been up and down all season in doubles, and enter their matches in Colorado this weekend 4-6 in doubles. The Vikings started the season with two straight doubles-point losses, but then won the doubles point in their next two matches. The Vikings followed that with three straight doubles-point losses, but then won the doubles point in two straight matches again after that. The Vikings lost the doubles point against Weber State in their last match, bringing their doubles record to 4-6. The six doubles-point losses already surpass the Vikings' total losses in the 2014 regular season, when the Vikings went 10-5 in doubles. The team's inconsistency in doubles has not been a huge drain on the Vikings so far, though, as the Vikings have come back to win the dual two times already this season after losing the doubles point.
 
CHALLENGING SCHEDULE:
The Vikings set up a challenging schedule for themselves in 2015, as the team searches for a return trip to the Big Sky Tournament. In order to do that, the Vikings will have to face seven things they have never done before as a program. Coming into the season, the Vikings had never beaten Montana, Montana State or Sacramento State during the regular season, and had never beaten Northern Colorado, Northern Arizona, Weber State or Southern Utah on the road. So far, the Vikings have gone 1-3 in facing those challenges this season, as they beat Montana State, but lost to Montana and Sacramento State at home, as well as Weber State on the road.
 
DEPTH OF RETURNERS:
The Vikings return five of their six singles players from their historic 2014 season, including All-Big Sky first-team selection Dané Vorster, who played at No. 1 singles and doubles for the Vikings last season. Senior Megan Govi also returns for the Vikings after earning All-Big Sky honorable mention honors last season, a season in which she became the all-time singles wins leader at Portland State. Senior Alexa McDonald, the all-time wins leader at No. 5 and 6 singles for the Vikings, also returns this season, as well as sophomore Sabina-Elena Preda and junior Ayaka Terakawa. Additionally, the Vikings get back sophomore Kelsey Frey, who had to sit out the entire 2014 season due to an injury but had a highly successful freshman season in 2013.
 
NEWCOMERS:
In addition to their deep class of returners, the Vikings also added three talented newcomers in sophomore transfer Tracy Dong and freshmen Siena Peri and Alana Chaplin. Peri, a four-star recruit coming out of high school, has already asserted herself at or near the top of the Vikings' singles lineup, having played two matches already this season at No. 1 singles, and five more at line two. Dong, meanwhile, leads the Vikings with a 6-1 dual-season record so far, and has won five straight matches for the Vikings. Dong came to the Vikings after playing her freshman season at the Univeristy of Missouri, where she went 9-14 in singles against a challenging schedule within the SEC. Chaplin, finally, adds a lot of experience in Division I athletics even as a freshman, as she's the daughter of Oregon State head and associate head gymnastics coaches Tanya and Michael Chaplin.
 
FALL SEASON RECAP:
The Vikings played in four tournaments during their 2014 fall season, and went 26-30 combined as a team in singles, and 11-19 combined in doubles while playing 12 different doubles pairings. Sophomore Sabina-Elena Preda had the best singles record for the Vikings in the fall, as she went 4-1 over the last two tournaments of the season. Senior Megan Govi also went 4-3 for the Vikings in singles, while newcomers Tracy Dong and Siena Peri went 5-5 and 4-4, respectively. Peri also won the back draw of the Beach Tennis Fall Invitational, and posted a 4-2 record with junior Dané Vorster in doubles.
 
2014 SEASON RECAP:
The Vikings posted their most successful season to date in 2014, as they qualified for the Big Sky Tournament for the first time in program history, finishing fourth in the conference during the regular-season with a program-best 6-3 record in Big Sky play. Then-sophomore Dané Vorster led the Vikings with a 5-3 record in Big Sky play at No. 1 singles, and recorded a 6-2 record at No. 2 doubles with then-junior Megan Govi. Vorster was named to the All-Big Sky first team for her efforts after the season, while Govi was named an All-Big Sky honorable mention. Additionally, Govi made history herself in 2014, as she became the all-time singles wins leader at Portland State during the season.