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FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. — The Portland State women's tennis team fell back to .500 in Big Sky play Sunday, as the Vikings lost 7-0 to one of the conference leaders in Northern Arizona at Continental Country Club.
 
The loss drops the Vikings to 5-5 in Big Sky (9-9 overall), which means the Vikings will have to wait until next week to see if they qualify for the six-team Big Sky tournament. The Vikings currently stand in qualifying position at sixth in the conference, but could drop out of the field if they lose their season-finale to Idaho and either Montana State or Idaho State win out.
 
The Lumberjacks, meanwhile, improved to 7-2 in Big Sky play (11-9 overall) with their win over the Vikings Sunday, putting them just a game behind Idaho for second in the Big Sky.

"NAU is a tough team to play at home," PSU head coach Jay Sterling said. "We gave our best, but it just wasn't enough today, and we came up short."
 
The Lumberjacks grabbed the early lead in their match against the Vikings, as they pulled out a narrow victory in doubles. The Vikings and Lumberjacks split the matches at lines two and three, with sophomores Tracy Dong and Sabina-Elena Preda pulling out the win for the Vikings with a 6-3 win at line two.
 
The split matches left it up to line one to decide the doubles point, where junior Dané Vorster and freshman Siena Peri found themselves in a tiebreaker against the Lumberjacks' Johanna Vang and Marta Lewandowska. A win for the Vikings would have given them the early lead, but Vang and Lewandowka took control of the tiebreaker early, and won it, 7-3.
 
The tiebreaker win gave the Lumberjacks the momentum going into singles, and Northern Arizona capitalized on it, sweeping the Vikings in singles, including straight-set wins at the top five singles positions.
 
Senior Alexa McDonald put up a fight for the Vikings at line six, beating the Lumberjacks' Sara Brown 6-4 in the first set to stake out an early lead. Brown came back with a 6-3 win in the second set, however, and then squeaked out an 11-9 win in the ensuing match tiebreaker to hand McDonald the loss.
 
The Lumberjacks' dominance in singles also included the end of a dominant run for the Vikings' Dong, as she lost 6-4, 6-3 to NAU's Emelia Box at line three. That loss snapped Dong's nine-match winning streak going into Sunday, and also handed Dong just her second loss in Big Sky play this season. Dong has only lost three matches overall during the dual season, and those three losses have all come against quality opponents in then-No. 57 Washington State, Sacramento State and Northern Arizona.
 
Dong and the Vikings will now look to end the regular season on a bright note, as they return home to host Idaho Saturday.

"We're focused 100 percent on Idaho now," Sterling said. "We're a tough team to play at home as well, so we're looking forward to getting back to our courts and taking care of business."

The Vikings will host the Vandals at 1 p.m. (PT) Saturday at Club Green Meadows in Vancouver, Wash. The match will be the final regular-season match for Viking seniors McDonald and Megan Govi.

Northern Arizona University 7, Portland State 0
Apr 12, 2015 at Flagstaff, Ariz. (Continental Country Club) 

Singles competition

1. VANG, Johanna (NAUWMEN) def. VORSTER, Dane (PSU) 6-2, 6-1

2. ROCHIN, Hailey (NAUWMEN) def. PERI, Siena (PSU) 6-2, 6-3

3. BOX, Emelia (NAUWMEN) def. DONG, Tracy (PSU) 6-4, 6-3

4. DENESIK, Jordan (NAUWMEN) def. PREDA, Sabina-Elena (PSU) 6-3, 6-3

5. LEWANDOWSKA, Marta (NAUWMEN) def. FREY, Kelsey (PSU) 6-2, 6-1

6. BROWN, Sara (NAUWMEN) def. MCDONALD, Alexa (PSU) 4-6, 6-3, 1-0 (11-9)

 

Doubles competition

1. VANG, Johanna/LEWANDOWSKA, Marta (NAUWMEN) def. PERI, Siena/VORSTER, Dane (PSU) 7-6 (7-3)

2. PREDA, Sabina-Elena/DONG, Tracy (PSU) def. ROCHIN, Hailey/BOX, Emelia (NAUWMEN) 6-3

3. SPRUCH, Sarah Maria/HOLLOSY, Livia (NAUWMEN) def. FREY, Kelsey/MCDONALD, Alexa (PSU) 6-0

 

Match Notes

Portland State 9-9, 5-5 BSC

Northern Arizona University 11-9, 7-2 BSC

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