RESULTS

LONG BEACH, Calif. — These sophomore newcomers should have all Portland State women's tennis fans excited.
 
Sophomore newcomer Alli Valk placed third in her singles draw at the Bulldog Invite last week, and sophomore newcomer Eszter Zador won in singles and doubles on the first day of the Beach Tennis Tournament Friday.
 
Zador was dominant in her singles win Friday, as she dropped only five games while beating UC Riverside's Tia Elpusan 6-3, 6-2 in singles flight B. Zador will now face off against Sadaf Sadeghvaziri of host Long Beach State in the quarterfinals of singles flight B at 11:30 a.m. Saturday.
 
Zador and redshirt sophomore Brianna Thompson were also dominant in posting a 6-2 win over UC Irvine's Danielle Garrido and Ashlynn Hall in doubles flight A. Zador and Thompson then faced off against a Pac-12 doubles team in Washington State's Barbora Michalkova and Melisa Ate in the quarterfinals later in the day, but lost that match 6-1.
 
Junior Ashley Knecht, meanwhile, will join Zador in the quarterfinals of her own singles flight tomorrow. Knecht earned a bye into the quarterfinals of singles flight D, and will face off against Anna Romeka from Loyola Marymount at 11:30 a.m. Saturday.
 
Knecht nearly added another win for the Vikings in doubles Friday, as she and freshman Gerda Upeniece played the closest match of the day in the consolation draw of doubles flight B. Knecht and Upeniece went to a tiebreaker against UC Irvine's Gillian Parker and Clair Dean, and went well past the usual seven points before losing the tiebreaker, 11-9.
 
The rest of the Vikings will return to action in the consolation draws of their respective singles flights with matches starting at 10 a.m.