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VANCOUVER, Wash. — The Portland State women's tennis team couldn't hold off a ferocious comeback from Northern Arizona Sunday, as the Lumberjacks charged back with wins in five of the six singles matches to beat the Vikings 5-2 at Club Green Meadows.
 
The Vikings (2-4, 1-2 Big Sky) won the doubles point to take an early 1-0 lead in the dual, and then won the first sets at lines 3-5 to give themselves a peak at the four points they'd need to close out the match. However, the Lumberjacks (4-4, 2-1 Big Sky) came back to win in three sets at lines three and five, and won in straight sets at lines one, two and six to give themselves the 5-2 win.
 
"It's a lesson that you've got to keep fighting and find a way to win. That's exactly what NAU did," PSU head coach Jay Sterling said. "At this level of tennis your opponents don't ever go away. You've got to play to win and you can't get up and just expect them to fold. You've got to do the dirty job of finishing off your opponent at this level, and that's the lesson we need to learn.
 
"NAU is a great team, but I think so are we. I want the team to know that. This match could have gone either way."
 
The Vikings gave themselves a chance against the talented Lumberjacks, who beat the Vikings 7-0 in Arizona last year.
 
The Vikings won the doubles point for the third straight match, beating the Lumberjacks at lines two and three while the match at line one went unfinished.
 
Redshirt junior Kelsey Frey and junior Sabina-Elena Preda ran out to an early lead at line three, where they broke NAU's Sara Brown and Jordan Denesik twice to serve at 4-1 up. NAU broke back with Frey and Preda serving for the match at 5-2, but the Vikings broke right back to win the match, 6-3. Frey and Preda have now won three straight matches together, while Frey extended her career lead in wins at No. 3 doubles with their win Sunday. Frey now has 18 career wins at No. 3 doubles, two more than the previous record holder, Frey's former teammate Megan Govi, who had 16.
 
Redshirt senior Dané Vorster and freshman Taylor Rees, meanwhile, battled back in their match at line two, getting an early break back to tie it up at 2-2, and then breaking again to give themselves a chance to serve for the match at 5-3. NAU's Hailey Rochin and Marta Lewandowska broke back to get back on serve at 5-4, but Vorster and Rees broke for a third time to claim the match at 6-4. Vorster and Rees have also now won three matches in a row, and lead the team with a 4-2 record together during the 2016 dual season.
 
The Vikings' success in doubles led into their hot start in singles, as the Vikings ran out to early leads at lines 3-5.
 
Preda broke Rochin to go up 5-2 at line four for the Vikings, and eventually served out the set after giving up a break, 6-4. Preda cruised in the second set from there, and beat Rochin 6-4, 6-1 to put the Vikings up 2-0 in the dual.
 
Frey and junior Tracy Dong also ran out to early leads with wins in the first set of their matches, as Frey beat Denesik 6-1 in the first set at line five, while Dong beat Lewandowska 6-3 in the first set at line three.
 
The Vikings ran into trouble from there, however, as Denesik and Lewandowska came charging back while the rest of the Lumberjacks took leads in their matches.
 
Hanneke Lodewijks beat Vorster 6-1 in the first set at line one, and then fought off a late charge from Vorster in the second set of their match to win 6-1, 6-4.
 
That brought the Lumberjacks within one at 2-1, and Denesik had started her comeback against Frey at line five by that point. Frey led 5-3 in the second set against Denesik, needing just one more game to win the match, but Denesik saved a match point on her serve and then broke Frey with Frey serving for the match at 5-4. Denesik held again after that, and then broke Frey a second time to claim the second set 7-5. Denesik did not give the momentum back after that as she cruised to a 6-0 win in the third set to claim the match 1-6, 7-5, 6-0.
 
Denesik's win gave NAU a 3-2 lead in the dual, as Blanka Szavay had pulled out a tight match against the Vikings' Siena Peri at line two by that point, winning 7-5, 7-6 (5).
 
Eirene Granville then clinched the dual for NAU with a 6-2, 6-3 win at line six, while Lewandowska pulled out an extremely close third set in a tiebreaker to beat Dong 3-6, 6-4, 7-6 (5).
 
"You win as a team and you lose as a team. It takes four points to win a dual and four points to lose a dual so this isn't on any one person. We do everything as a team and it's important that people remember that," Sterling said after the match.
 
The Vikings will now look to bounce back as they head on the road for a Big Sky match at Montana State next Saturday at 5 p.m. (MT).
 
Match Notes: The Vikings fall to 1-16 all-time against the Lumberjacks with Sunday's loss…NAU's Emelia Box beat Portland State's Alana Chaplin 8-7 (2) in an exhibition…NAU's Brown also beat Portland State's Ashley Knecht 8-3 in another exhibition match.
 
Northern Arizona 5, Portland State 2
Feb 14, 2016 at Vancouver, Wash. (Club Green Meadows) 

Singles competition

1. LODEWIJKS, Hanneke (NAU) def. VORSTER, Dane (PSU) 6-1, 6-4

2. SZAVAY, Blanka (NAU) def. PERI, Siena (PSU) 7-5, 7-6 (7-5)

3. LEWANDOWSKA, Marta (NAU) def. DONG, Tracy (PSU) 3-6, 6-4, 7-6 (7-5)

4. PREDA, Sabina-Elena (PSU) def. ROCHIN, Hailey (NAU) 6-4, 6-1

5. DENESIK, Jordan (NAU) def. FREY, Kelsey (PSU) 1-6, 7-5, 6-0

6. GRANVILLE, Eirene (NAU) def. REES, Taylor (PSU) 6-2, 6-3

Doubles competition

1. PERI, Siena/DONG, Tracy (PSU) vs. SZAVAY, Blanka/LODEWIJKS, Hanneke (NAU) 4-5, unfinished

2. VORSTER, Dane/REES, Taylor (PSU) def. ROCHIN, Hailey/LEWANDOWSKA, Marta (NAU) 6-4

3. PREDA, Sabina-Elena/FREY, Kelsey (PSU) def. BROWN, Sara/DENESIK, Jordan (NAU) 6-3

Match Notes

Northern Arizona 4-4, 2-1 BSC

Portland State 2-4, 1-2 BSC

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

Singles Exhibition #1: Box (NAU) def. Chaplin (PSU), 8-7 (2)

Singles Exhibition #2: Brown (NAU) def. Knecht (PSU), 8-3