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VANCOUVER, Wash. — This Viking ship has righted itself.
A week after a tough 0-3 weekend to start the season, the Portland State women's tennis finished off a 2-0 weekend with a bang, sweeping Southern Utah 7-0 at Club Green Meadows Saturday.
The sweep marks the first time the Vikings (2-3, 1-1 Big Sky) have ever taken every match of a dual against a Big Sky opponent (not counting wins by default), and just the second time the Vikings have ever done it to a Division I school, following a 7-0 win over Valparaiso in 2013.
"Resilient was our word for the weekend and the girls just showed it today. They just focused on each match all weekend, and they did a fantastic job," PSU head coach
Jay Sterling said after the Vikings' win over Southern Utah (0-3, 0-1 Big Sky).
The Vikings showed their resilience first in doubles where they swept the Thunderbirds at all three spots, starting with a 6-2 win at line three for the Vikings'
Sabina-Elena Preda and
Kelsey Frey. The win gave Frey her record-breaking 17th win at No. 3 doubles at Portland State, moving her past her former teammate and doubles partner
Megan Govi, who graduated last year.
Redshirt senior
Dané Vorster and freshman
Taylor Rees then followed with a 6-4 win over the Thunderbirds' Evgenia Marushko and Teresa De Enrique at line two, while sophomore
Siena Peri and junior
Tracy Dong capped the sweep with a 7-5 win over the Thunderbirds' Veronika Rogova and Charity Sagiao at line one.
The doubles sweep was the Vikings' second of the weekend, and led the team well into singles where they put their foot down quickly. None stamped out any hope of comeback quicker than Preda, who did not drop a game while beating the Thunderbirds' Laura Martin 6-0, 6-0 at line four.
Frey then followed with a 6-1, 6-2 win over the Thunderbirds' Megan Bell at line five, before Dong clinched the dual for the Vikings with a 6-2, 6-3 win over De Enrique at line three.
Rees also wrapped up a straight sets victory at line six later in the match, as she beat Sagiao 6-2, 6-1 for her second win of the weekend.
The Vikings found themselves in tighter matches at lines one and two, where Vorster and Peri were facing off against two opponents who beat them a year ago in Rogova and Marushko, respectively. It started to look like Rogova and Marushko would get the better of them again this year, too, as both Vorster and Peri lost the first set of their matches to fall behind early.
Both Vorster and Peri turned things around right away, however, as they dominated the second and third sets to complete the sweep for the Vikings.
Peri broke twice at the start of the second set of her match against Marushko at line two, and did not look back from there, winning 2-6, 6-2, 6-1. Peri also came back from a set down to clinch the Vikings' win over South Dakota State Friday, giving the sophomore two three-set comebacks in as many days.
"What makes Siena such a special player is her variety," Sterling said about Peri after the match. "She doesn't have a single-dimension game, and she can do so many different things well. She serves well, she slices well, she volleys well, she's strong with the backhand, she's strong with the forehand, she can transition well, she returns well; I mean there are no real weaknesses in her game. She can do so many different things so if she has a tactic that's not working, she has a plan A, B, C, D, E, F, I mean it's just way down the alphabet. And that's what makes her special and how she's able to overcome matches like today."
Vorster also broke early in the second set of her match to take control, and used an early break in the third to finish off Rogova 3-6, 6-2, 6-2 at line one.
"I felt like I didn't really play my best in that first set, but I knew I could turn it around," Vorster said afterwards. "There was never that doubt. I just continued to believe in myself and break things down a little more simply and try to find some rhythm first, and then try to target some of her weaknesses."
Vorster wrapped her match just before Rees closed hers at line six to put the finishing touches on the sweep.
"I could talk about every girl, every lady on our team this weekend because they all deserve it," Sterling said. "It was a team weekend. Everybody's responsible for the weekend in some way and so my hat's off to the entire squad. I'm really, really proud of this team."
The Vikings will now look to move above .500 in conference play, as Northern Arizona comes to Club Green Meadows next Sunday at 10 a.m.
Match Notes: The Vikings improve to 3-1 all-time against Southern Utah with Saturday's win…With Frey's record win total at No. 3 doubles, the Vikings' now have the all-time leaders in wins No. 2 singles, No. 3 singles and No. 3 doubles on this year's team.
Portland State 7, Southern Utah 0
Feb 06, 2016 at Vancouver, Wash. (Club Green Meadows) | Singles competition |
| 1. VORSTER, Dane (PSU) def. ROGOVA, Veronika (SUU) 3-6, 6-2, 6-2 |
| 2. PERI, Siena (PSU) def. MARUSHKO, Evgenia (SUU) 2-6, 6-2, 6-1 |
| 3. DONG, Tracy (PSU) def. DE ENRIQUE, Teresa (SUU) 6-2, 6-3 |
| 4. PREDA, Sabina-Elena (PSU) def. MARTIN, Laura (SUU) 6-0, 6-0 |
| 5. FREY, Kelsey (PSU) def. BELL, Megan (SUU) 6-1, 6-2 |
| 6. REES, Taylor (PSU) def. SAGIAO, Charity (SUU) 6-2, 6-1 |
| Doubles competition |
| 1. PERI, Siena/DONG, Tracy (PSU) def. ROGOVA, Veronika/SAGIAO, Charity (SUU) 7-5 |
| 2. VORSTER, Dane/REES, Taylor (PSU) def. MARUSHKO, Evgenia/DE ENRIQUE, Teresa (SUU) 6-4 |
| 3. PREDA, Sabina-Elena/FREY, Kelsey (PSU) def. BELL, Megan/MARTIN, Laura (SUU) 6-2 |
| Match Notes |
| Southern Utah 0-3, 0-1 BSC |
| Portland State 2-3, 1-1 BSC |
| Order of finish: Doubles (3,2,1); Singles (4,5,3,2,1,6) |
