MATCH NOTES (PDF)

PORTLAND, Ore. — It's put-up or shut-up time for the Portland State women's tennis team, as the Vikings enter the final stretch of the regular season right in the middle of the hunt for a spot in their third straight Big Sky tournament.
 
With three matches left in the regular season, the Vikings stand as one of four teams competing for the final two spots in the six-team conference tournament. The top four teams in the conference all have two losses or less, while Portland State and Montana State stand behind at 4-4 in conference play. Eastern Washington and Montana also stand at .500 in conference play, but have played fewer matches than the Vikings and Bobcats, and stand at 3-3 and 2-2 in the Big Sky, respectively.
 
The Vikings will face Eastern Washington and Montana over the final two weekends of the regular season, giving them a chance to play their way into the tournament with wins. Eastern Washington also plays Idaho, the Vikings' opponent Sunday, and Montana State, meaning the playoff picture could sort itself out, or get even more muddled if a few teams don't run the table and instead start trading wins.
 
The Vikings' biggest challenge over their final playoff push will be finding a way to win on the road. The Vikings enter their match against Idaho Sunday 0-4 in road matches so far this season, compared to a 5-3 record at home.
 
Three of the Vikings' four losses on the road came on the opening weekend of the regular season, however, and the team's fourth road loss came over a month ago at Montana State on Feb. 20. The Vikings won three of their five matches after that loss to the Bobcats, including three of four Big Sky matches.
 
The Vikings will also need to buck tradition over their final three road matches, as two of the Vikings' remaining opponents – Idaho and Montana – represent two of the better teams in the Big Sky Conference traditionally. The Vikings are just 1-24 combined all-time against Idaho and Montana, and have never beaten either team on the road. Both teams are also undefeated at home so far this season, but both also lost two All-Big Sky first-team selections from a year ago.
 
The Vikings have had more success against Eastern Washington, as they've won four of their last five matches against the Eagles, including the last two straight road matches.
 
It all gets underway Sunday for the Vikings, as they play the Vandals at 12 p.m. (PT) at the Memorial Gym Tennis Courts.
 
WEEKEND NOTES
 
MATCH INFO:
April 3 – at Idaho – Moscow, Idaho (Memorial Gym Tennis Courts) – 12 p.m. (PT)
 
FOLLOW THE VIKINGS ON TWITTER:
Fans can follow the women's tennis team all season along on Twitter at @ViksWTEN. Live results from the Vikings' match against Northern Arizona this weekend will also be at @ViksWTEN.
 
SCOUTING IDAHO:
• The Idaho Vandals (10-8, 4-2 Big Sky), who are coming off a Big Sky tournament title in 2015, have had a bit of bad luck with close matches this season, as four of their last seven matches have been 4-3 losses. Both of the Vandals' Big Sky losses have also been 4-3 losses, as they lost 4-3 on the road to Northern Arizona on Feb. 5, and then lost 4-3 again against Sacramento State on March 19
• The Vandals have not played since another 4-3 loss to San Jose State on March 20, but will return to action against Eastern Washington on April 1. The Vandals' match against the Eagles Friday will be their first in Moscow this season, while their match against the Vikings will be their second and last
• The Vandals lost Big Sky MVP Galina Bykova and fellow All-Big Sky first-team selection Emmie Marx off last year's tournament title-winning team, as well as All-Big Sky second-team selection Sophie Vickers
• The Vandals have a relatively young roster this season, as six of their nine players this season are underclassmen
• Senior Belen Barcenilla returns after being named an All-Big Sky honorable mention last season, and has a 5-1 record in Big Sky singles matches, and has won six straight matches going into the weekend
• Freshman Marianna Petrei has been a standout player for the Vandals at line one, as she's 14-2 at the top spot in the lineup, including a perfect 6-0 record in Big Sky matches
• Lucia Badillos and Maria Tavares also have winning records in Big Sky play at 4-1 and 4-2 in conference matches, respectively
• The Vandals have played a number of different doubles teams this season, but their most successful has been Tavares and senior Rita Bermudez, who are 10-4 together, including a 4-0 record in Big Sky matches, while playing at line two
• Badillos and Petrei also have a 5-1 record together this season while playing at line three
• The Vandals beat the Vikings 6-1 last season in the first-ever Big Sky conference match between the two teams
 
ALL-TIME SERIES VERSUS IDAHO:
The Vikings are just 1-9 all-time against Idaho, including 0-1 in Big Sky matches after dropping the first-ever conference match between the two teams last season. The Vikings have only played the Vandals in Moscow twice before this season, and not since a close, 4-3 loss in 2008.
 
LAST TIME OUT:
The Vikings have been off for two straight weekends, as they have not played since a 4-3 loss to Weber State on March 12. The Wildcats came back from a large deficit to beat the Vikings in the team's last match, as the Wildcats lost the doubles point and trailed the Vikings 3-1 in the dual before winning the final three singles matches to take the match from the Vikings, 4-3. Two of the Wildcats' final three wins in singles came in three sets, including a dramatic comeback at line two in which the Wildcats' Kristi Elmer came back from a set and two breaks down in the second set to win 1-6, 6-4, 7-5.
 
UPCOMING:
The Vikings stay on the road for a pivotal Big Sky match at Eastern Washington next Sunday, April 10, at 10 a.m. (PT).
 
DOUBLE THE PLEASURE, DOUBLE THE FUN:
The Vikings have won the doubles point in eight of their last nine matches, and have not dropped a doubles match in seven of those matches. The Vikings have only lost the doubles point three times all season, and have a 21-10 record as a team in doubles this season, including a 14-5 mark in Big Sky matches. Redshirt senior Dané Vorster and Taylor Rees lead the team with a 9-3 record together this season, and have won four straight matches together. Vorster and Rees' 9-3 record gives them a win percentage of .750 together this season, which would set a single-season record as the highest overall win percentage by a doubles team if the season ended today. Vorster and Rees also tied the single-season record Vorster and Megan Govi set with six conference wins in 2014, and could break it with at least one win over the Vikings' final three matches of the season. Junior Sabina-Elena Preda and redshirt junior Kelsey Frey also have five Big Sky wins together, and have won three straight matches together. Sophomore Siena Peri and junior Tracy Dong, meanwhile, also have a strong record at 6-2 while playing at line one, but have been cheated out of a few wins this season as three of their last four matches have all gone unfinished as their teammates have wrapped up the doubles point before they could finish. Despite the multiple unfinished matches, Peri and Dong have still won their last five matches, and hold a 3-1 record in Big Sky matches.
 
BOTTOMS UP!:
The bottom of the Vikings' singles lineup has led the team so far in singles, as the Vikings are 21-12 in Big Sky matches at lines 3-6, compared to just 4-12 combined at lines one and two. Redshirt junior Kelsey Frey leads the team with a 6-2 record in Big Sky play while playing at line five, and has won her last four singles matches going into the Vikings' match against the Vandals. Junior Tracy Dong has also won four straight singles matches, and has a 5-3 record while playing at line three in Big Sky matches, same as junior Sabina-Elena Preda and freshman Taylor Rees, who have gone 5-3 in conference matches at lines four and six, respectively. The Vikings' success at the bottom of the lineup won them back-to-back 5-2 matches against Northern Colorado and North Dakota on Feb. 27 and March 5, respectively, as the Vikings dropped the matches at lines one and two but swept the matches at lines 3-6 in both matches.
 
PERI CLAIMS ALL-TIME LEAD IN WINS AT NO. 2 SINGLES:
Sophomore Siena Peri became the all-time leader in wins at No. 2 singles earlier this season, and now leads the category with 13 wins at the position. Peri also ranks second all-time in win percentage at No. 2 singles, as she ranks behind Denise Cockrell (.643), who also held the all-time lead in total wins until Peri passed her. Peri could be set up for more records as well, as she ranks 10 all-time in overall singles win percentage (.433) and tied for eighth in Big Sky singles wins (8). Additionally, Peri ranks highly in doubles as well, as she ranks fourth all-time in win percentage at No. 1 doubles (.542), as well as tied for sixth all-time in wins at No. 1 doubles (13).
 
KELSEY FREY TAKES OVER CAREER LEAD IN NO. 3 DOUBLES:
Junior Kelsey Frey took over the all-time lead in wins at No. 3 doubles with her 6-2 win at line three with sophomore Sabina-Elena Preda in the Vikings' 7-0 win over Southern Utah on Feb. 6. Frey now has 21 wins at No. 3 doubles, moving her past her former doubles partner Megan Govi, who had 16 wins at the position from 2012-15. Frey has been one of the best doubles players in school history throughout her career, as she also ranks third all-time in overall doubles wins (27), as well as third all-time in overall doubles win percentage (.587). Additionally, Frey ranks tied for third all-time in Big Sky doubles wins with 12 in her Portland State career.
 
VORSTER TAKES OVER CAREER RECORD IN BIG SKY DOUBLES WINS:
Redshirt senior Dané Vorster has been one of the best doubles players in program history throughout her Portland State career, and solidified her legacy with a record-breaking 16th career Big Sky doubles win in the Vikings' match against Weber State on March 12. Vorster moved past her former teammate Megan Govi in breaking the record, after Govi set the record with 15 Big Sky doubles wins from 2012-15. Vorster also ranks fourth all-time in overall doubles wins with 26 in her career, ranking her one win behind teammate Kelsey Frey, who is the active leader with 27 doubles wins in her career. Additionally, Vorster ranks second all-time with an overall doubles win percentage at .591, just a bit ahead of Frey, who sits in third at .587.
 
HISTORY MAKERS:
This 2015-16 Vikings has been some of the best ever in program history, as several rank at the top or near the top for wins at their respective spots in the lineup. Sophomore Siena Peri and redshirt junior Kelsey Frey took over the all-time leads in wins at No. 2 singles and No. 3 doubles this season, while Tracy Dong took over the all-time lead in wins at No. 3 singles last season. Besides those three, Dané Vorster and Sabina-Elena Preda also rank second in wins at No. 1 singles and No. 4 singles, respectively, while Frey and freshman Taylor Rees rank tied for fourth and tied for seventh all-time in wins at No. 5 and 6 singles. Preda also ranks fifth all-time with 22 career singles wins, while Dong and Frey rank tied for sixth all-time with 21 career wins each. Dong also ranks second all-time with an overall singles win percentage of .677, while Preda Dong and Frey rank second, third and fourth, respectively, with 15, 13 and 11 Big Sky singles wins.
 
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.