MEET NOTES (PDF)

PORTLAND, Ore. — These Vikings don't let up.
 
Coming off a grueling opening weekend that saw them play three matches in less than 48 hours, the Vikings face another tough weekend, as they play host to South Dakota State and Southern Utah this weekend at Club Green Meadows in Vancouver, Wash.
 
The Vikings (0-3) lost to UC Davis, Sacramento State and the Academy of Art to open their season last weekend, but did so while facing less than optimal conditions, as the team's opening match against UC Davis got pushed back to 9:30 p.m. last Friday. That meant the Vikings didn't finish that match – a 4-2 loss to a quality Aggies team – until around 1 a.m., about 12 hours before they had to face conference-favorite Sacramento State in the team's Big Sky opener.
 
The Vikings held tough against the Hornets despite losing 6-1, but then ran out of gas against the Academy of Art on Sunday, losing 6-1 to the Urban Knights. The Urban Knights were playing their first match of the season on Sunday, however, while the Vikings were playing their third in less than 48 hours.
 
The Vikings' schedule doesn't let up from here, though, starting Friday, as the Vikings host a tough South Dakota State team out of the Summit League. The Jackrabbits return all seven letterwinners from their 2015 team that went 15-8 overall and advanced to the Summit League tournament final for the first time in program history.
 
The Vikings then host Southern Utah Saturday in a rematch of what was a close 4-3 win for the Vikings in Cedar City, Utah, last season. The Thunderbirds beat the Vikings at line one in doubles and lines one and two in singles, but the Vikings claimed the dual with a doubles-point win and wins at lines three, four and six in singles.
 
The Vikings get started against the Jackrabbits at 9 a.m. Friday, and then face off against the Thunderbirds at 12 p.m. Saturday.
 
WEEKEND NOTES
 
SCOUTING SOUTH DAKOTA STATE:
• The South Dakota State Jackrabbits split their opening weekend in Lincoln, Neb., two weekends ago, losing 7-0 to Nebraska on Jan. 22, before beating Nebraska-Kearney 5-2 on Jan. 23.
• The Jackrabbits return all seven of their letterwinners from last season, when they went 15-8 overall and 5-2 in the Summit League
• The Jackrabbits finished third in the Summit League last season, and advanced to the final of their conference tournament for the first time before losing to the top-seeded University of Denver.
• Junior Iasmin Rosa returns after being named to the All-Summit team for a second straight season last year, when she went 13-6 in singles and 17-2 in doubles
• Rosa and Ffion Davies set a school record with 16 doubles victories at line one last season
• Florencia Magni posted a 6-1 record in the Summit League last season, and went 6-1 at line two as well as 13-8 overall
• Beatriz Souza and Elif Gabb also each went 5-2 in Summit League play, and went 9-4 and 14-4 at lines five and six, respectively
• The Jackrabbits won the doubles point in 16 of their 23 matches last season, and went onto win the match 15 times
 
ALL-TIME SERIES VERSUS SOUTH DAKOTA STATE:
This will be the first time the Vikings and Jackrabbits have ever played in women's tennis. The Vikings have only played one Summit League team before, which in 2014, when the Vikings beat Nebraska Omaha 6-1 on the road.
 
SCOUTING SOUTHERN UTAH:
• The Thunderbirds are coming off a difficult 2015 season that saw them go 2-15, with their only two wins coming over NCAA Division II Dixie State
• The Thunderbirds gave the Vikings trouble last season, however, as the Vikings eked out a 4-3 win
• The Vikings lost matches at lines one in doubles and lines one and two in singles, but still pulled out the dual thanks to claiming the doubles point with lines two and three in doubles, and wins at lines three, four and six in singles
• The Thunderbirds return much of the players who played against the Vikings last season, including senior Veronika Rogova, who won her matches at lines one in both singles and doubles
• Rogova's doubles partner Teresa De Enrique Schmidt also returns, possibly setting up a rematch at line four, where she played the Vikings' Sabina-Elena Preda last season. Preda beat De Enrique Schmidt 6-1, 6-1 in that match
• Junior Evgenia Marushko returns as well, after beating the Vikings' Siena Peri in a marathon match tiebreaker, 13-11, at line two last season
• Emily Lemmon also played in last year's match against the Vikings, but lost 6-3, 6-1 to the Vikings' Alexa McDonald
• Six of the Thunderbirds' eight players are underclassmen this season
• Head coach Rick Lambson is in his first year as the official head coach for Southern Utah, after serving as interim head coach in 2015
 
ALL-TIME SERIES VERSUS SOUTHERN UTAH:
The Vikings lead the all-time series against the Thunderbirds, 2-1, though every match in the series so far has been close. Southern Utah won the first match in the series, 5-2, in 2013, while the Vikings have followed with 5-2 and 4-3 wins in each of the past two seasons.
 
LAST TIME OUT:
The Vikings opened their 2016 season with a difficult road trip, playing at UC Davis, Sacramento State and the Academy of Art over three straight days. The schedule was made even more difficult when the Vikings' match against UC Davis got pushed back to 9:30 p.m. due to rain. That mean the Vikings played all three of their matches in less than 48 hours, and the wear of the schedule showed, as after a close 4-2 loss to a quality UC Davis team, a tired Vikings group fell 6-1 to conference-favorite Sacramento State, and then capped the weekend with a 6-1 loss to NCAA Division II Academy of Art, which was playing its first match of the 2016 spring season.
 
UPCOMING:
The Vikings stay home for another Big Sky match next weekend, as they host Northern Arizona at Club Green Meadows in Vancouver, Wash., at 10 a.m. on Feb. 14.
 
PERI CLAIMS ALL-TIME LEAD IN WINS AT NO. 2 SINGLES:
Sophomore Siena Peri was a bright spot for the Vikings last weekend, as she went 2-1 in singles, with her second win giving her the Portland State school record in wins at line two. Peri set the record with a 4-6, 6-3, 1-0 (10-4) win over the Academy of Art's Paula Alcantara Sunday, giving her 10 wins in her short Portland State career. Peri moved past Denise Cockrell, who originally set the record with nine wins in the 2003 season. Peri still ranks second to Cockrell in win percentage at line two, however, as Cockrell's mark of .643 (9-5) ranks ahead of Peri's current win percentage of .500 (10-10).
 
HISTORY MAKERS:
Besides Peri, junior Tracy Dong also already has the career lead in wins at No. 3 singles (13), but can extend her record with more wins this season. Dong also holds the career record for win percentage at No. 3 singles (.650), while fellow junior Sabina-Elena Preda ranks tied for second currently in win percentage at No. 4 singles (.500). Preda also ranks fourth all-time in career wins at No. 4 singles, and will move into a tie with Anya Dalkin for second all-time with three more singles wins at the position. Redshirt Senior Dané Vorster, meanwhile, ranks second all-time in wins at No. 1 singles, but will need a monster year to catch the current leader Leinani McAneneney, as McAneney leads Vorster 27 wins to 14 currently. Redshirt junior Kelsey Frey could also take over the career doubles wins record this season with a monster year, as she currently ranks fourth with 21 wins, 12 behind current leader and former teammate, Megan Govi, who had 33 doubles wins in her PSU career. Frey is closer to the record in overall doubles win percentage, as her career mark of .553 (21-17) is just behind Lacey Pfilbsen, who had a .609 winning percentage (14-9). Frey also ranks just one win off the career lead for wins at No. 3 doubles, while Vorster ranks just four wins off the career lead in wins at No. 1 doubles.
 
2014-15 SEASON:
The 2014-15 season was filled with individual success for the Vikings, as Tracy Dong put together one of the best seasons by a Viking in school history. Dong finished with single-season school records for overall singles win percentage (.789), Big Sky singles wins (8), wins at No. 3 singles (13) and win percentage at No. 3 singles (.765), and already holds the Portland State career lead for wins at No. 3 singles (13) and win percentage at No. 3 singles (.765) as well. Dong, an All-Big Sky second-team selection, also had win streaks of nine and five straight matches during the season, and won 14 of her last 15 matches at one point during the season. Dong wasn't alone, though, as Siena Peri also had one of the best freshman seasons of anybody in program history, as she went 8-9 at line two, with her eight wins ranking second all-time in a single season at the No. 2 spot. Peri also had a five-match win streak of her own during the season, including a win streak of five straight matches in Big Sky play. Sabina-Elena Preda, meanwhile, had strong starts and finishes to Big Sky play, as she won her first three Big Sky matches against traditional conference powers Montana State, Montana and Sacramento State, and then finished the season with wins in four of the team's last five Big Sky matches. As a team, the Vikings finished 9-11 overall and 5-6 in Big Sky play, finishing sixth in the conference and qualifying for their second straight Big Sky tournament.