MATCH NOTES (PDF)

PORTLAND, Ore. — It's win or go home for the Portland State women's tennis team for the rest of the 2016 season, starting Sunday, when the Vikings play at Eastern Washington.
 
The Vikings fell into their current situation after losing to Idaho, 6-1, last Sunday, dropping them to 4-5 in Big Sky play and eighth in the conference standings. Sunday's match also has meaning for Eastern Washington, however, as they rank just ahead of the Vikings at 4-4 in Big Sky play, and conclude their 2016 home schedule against the Vikings Sunday.
 
The top four spots in the Big Sky are out of reach for the Vikings now, but the Vikings can still finish in the top six of the conference and make the Big Sky tournament for a third straight season with a strong finish to the season.
 
Lose Sunday, though, and the Vikings will be out of the discussion most likely, as a loss to the Eagles would move Eastern Washington to 5-4 and give them the tiebreaker over the Vikings. Montana State also holds the tiebreaker against the Vikings after beating them head-to-head earlier in the year, and stand tied with the Eagles at 4-4 currently. That means if the Bobcats beat Northern Colorado Saturday and the Vikings lose to the Eagles Sunday, then the Vikings could only tie Eastern Washington and Montana State in the conference standings, and the Vikings would be bumped out of the tournament in that situation due to their losses to the Eagles and Bobcats.
 
Even if the Vikings beat the Eagles Sunday, however, they still might need to beat Montana the week after to make the Big Sky tournament since Montana remains a wildcard in the whole playoff hunt due to the fact that they have only played four conference matches so far this season. The Grizzlies stand at 2-2 in Big Sky play so far, but have seven conference matches remaining in which to pick up wins.
 
Regardless, the Vikings' path to the Big Sky tournament will have to start with a win over the Eagles Sunday, with the Vikings and Eagles getting underway at 10 a.m. (PT) in Cheney, Wash.
 
WEEKEND NOTES
 
MATCH INFO:
April 10 – at Eastern Washington – Cheney, Wash. – 10 a.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 EASTERN WASHINGTON:
• The Eastern Washington Eagles (10-9, 4-4 Big Sky) have a number of strong wins so far this season, including two wins over teams who beat the Vikings in Northern Arizona and Seattle. The Eagles beat the Lumberjacks 4-3 on Feb. 7 in their Big Sky opener, a week before the Lumberjacks beat the Vikings 5-2. The Eagles also beat Montana, 5-2, in a non-conference match on Jan. 24
• The Eagles have been struggling of late, however, as they have lost six of their last eight matches, with their only two wins during that stretch coming over NCAA Division III Whitworth and Southern Utah, which stands at 1-6 in Big Sky play so far. The Eagles also lost 5-2 to Idaho State at home on March 4, a team the Vikings beat 7-0 at home two days later on March 6
• The Eagles have an experienced roster this season with only two freshmen on the roster compared to five upperclassmen. Additionally, the Eagles return all five players who played against the Vikings last season
• Sophomore Janaya Smith returned to the Eagles after earning All-Big Sky second-team honors as a freshman last season. Smith has played at line one again this season, and has a 6-10 record at the position, including a 2-6 record in Big Sky play
• Redshirt senior Moira Hedberg has played at line two for the Eagles, and has a 5-10 record at the position, including a 4-4 conference record
• Freshman Faye Worrall leads the team with a 5-3 record in Big Sky play, and has played anywhere form line 3-6. Worrall has mostly played at line six, where she has an 8-5 record this season
• The Eagles have been a strong doubles team so far this season, especially in Big Sky play, as they have a 15-5 doubles record as a team in conference matches this season. The Eagles also have 12-5 and 12-6 records as a team at lines two and three, respectively
• Smith and Worrall have a 6-1 record together in Big Sky play while playing at line one in doubles for the Eagles
• Hedberg and Erin Blessing have a 4-1 record together in Big Sky play while playing at lines two and three, and have gone 10-4 together overall
• The Vikings beat the Eagles 7-0 at home last season, when the Eagles were forced to forfeit at line three in doubles and line six in singles. The Eagles still took the Vikings past two sets in four of the five contested singles matches, however, but the Vikings pulled out all four to secure the win
 
ALL-TIME SERIES VERSUS EASTERN WASHINGTON:
The Vikings trail the all-time series against the Eagles, 6-15, but have owned the series of late with wins in four of their last five matches against the Eagles. The Vikings have also won their last two road matches against the Eagles, as well as three of their last four.
 
LAST TIME OUT:
The Vikings returned to action after two straight weekends off with a 6-1 loss at Idaho last Sunday. The Vikings played a few close matches against the Vandals, but only pulled out the match at line two, where sophomore Siena Peri beat the Vandals' Rita Bermudez 6-4, 6-3. Besides Peri, juniors Tracy Dong and Sabina-Elena Preda each also took their opponents to match tiebreakers before losing. Dong fought back after losing the first set to Idaho's Celine Koets, 6-0, and won the second set in a tiebreaker, 7-4. Koets recovered to dominate the ensuing match tiebreaker, however, and wrapped up a 6-0, 6-7 (4), 10-1 win over Dong. Preda, meanwhile, ran out to an early set lead on Idaho's Belen Barcenilla at line four, but Barcenilla dominated the match after that to win 3-6, 6-2, 10-2. The Vikings also lost all three doubles matches for the first time since the opening weekend of the season.
 
UPCOMING:
The Vikings conclude the regular season at Montana next Saturday. The Vikings and Grizzlies will play at 9 a.m. (MT) in Missoula, Mont.
 
ROAD WOES:
The Vikings head into their road match against the Eagles 0-5 on the road this season. The Vikings have had trouble keeping matches close on the road, too, as four of the team's five road losses have come by 6-1 scores. Additionally, the Vikings have lost all three of their Big Sky road matches by 6-1 scores, including last week, when Idaho beat Portland State 6-1.
 
DOUBLE THE PLEASURE, DOUBLE THE FUN:
The Vikings lost the doubles point to Idaho last Sunday, but had won the doubles point in eight of their last nine matches before that, and had not dropped a doubles match in seven of those matches. The Vikings have still only lost the doubles point four times all season, and have a 21-13 record as a team in doubles this season, including a 14-8 mark in Big Sky matches. Redshirt senior Dané Vorster and Taylor Rees lead the team with a 9-4 record together this season, and had won five straight matches together before losing their match against the Vandals. Additionally, Vorster and Rees' 9-4 record gives them a win percentage of .692 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 have 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 two matches of the season. Junior Sabina-Elena Preda and redshirt junior Kelsey Frey also have five Big Sky wins together, and have won six of their last eight matches together. Sophomore Siena Peri and junior Tracy Dong, meanwhile, also have a strong record at 6-3 together while playing at line one, and had won five straight matches together before losing in their match against the Vandals.
 
BOTTOMS UP!:
The bottom of the Vikings' singles lineup has led the team so far in singles, as the Vikings are 21-16 in Big Sky matches at lines 3-6, compared to just 5-13 combined at lines one and two. Redshirt junior Kelsey Frey leads the team with a 6-3 record in Big Sky play while playing at line five, and had won four straight matches before losing to the Vandals. Junior Tracy Dong had also won four straight singles matches before the match against the Vandals, and has a 5-4 record while playing at line three in Big Sky matches, same as junior Sabina-Elena Preda and freshman Taylor Rees, who have gone 5-4 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 14 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 ninth all-time in overall singles win percentage (.452) and tied for sixth in Big Sky singles wins (9). Additionally, Peri ranks highly in doubles as well, as she ranks fifth all-time in win percentage at No. 1 doubles (.520), 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 fourth all-time in overall doubles win percentage (.574). 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, one win behind teammate Kelsey Frey, who is the active leader with 27 doubles wins in her career. Additionally, Vorster ranks third all-time with an overall doubles win percentage at .578, just a bit ahead of Frey, who sits in fourth at .574.
 
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 .656, 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.