Complete Match Notes (PDF)

PORTLAND, Ore. — The Portland State women's tennis team knows how to open with a bang. Two weeks after opening their season with their first match against cross-town rival University of Portland since 2013, the Vikings open Big Sky play against the two-time defending Big Sky tournament champion Idaho Vandals Sunday at Club Green Meadows in Vancouver, Wash.
 
The difficult opening schedule will certainly test the Vikings, but the Vikings should have the roster to deal with it.
 
The Vikings feature two players in Siena Peri and Tracy Dong, who represent the all-time leaders in wins at No. 2 and No. 3 singles, respectively. Senior Sabina-Elena Preda may join those two as the all-time leader in wins at No. 4 singles later this season, and sophomore Taylor Rees moved one step closer to becoming the all-time leader in wins at No. 6 singles with her win against UP's Kara Okazaki two weeks ago.
 
Rees' win over Okazaki moved her into a tie for second all-time with eight career wins at line six, just five behind the record Alexa McDonald set at 13 wins from 2012-15.
 
Sunday's match against Idaho will also give several Vikings the chance to move up the career standings in Big Sky singles and doubles wins, including Preda and Dong, who each have a shot at breaking the school record for conference singles wins this season. Preda's 17 career conference singles wins stand just three behind the record of 20 that Preda's former teammate Megan Govi set from 2012-15, and Dong ranks just three wins behind Preda with 14 in her career. Additionally, Preda's 13 career Big Sky doubles wins rank just four behind the record another former teammate, Dané Vorster, set at 17 from 2014-16.
 
Preda already tied one record this season, as her win at line two in doubles against UP two weeks ago moved her into a four-way tie for the most career wins at the position. Preda now has 14 career wins at line two in doubles, equal to Katie Slizewski (2002-03), Lisa Bessman (2003) and Marina Todd (2011-14).
 
The talent will be there for the Vikings come Sunday, then, but of course it will also be there for the Vandals, who returned five of their eight letterwinners from last season, when they went 19-9 overall and 9-2 in Big Sky play.
 
The Vandals returned 2016 Big Sky MVP Marianna Petrei, who went 22-3 overall and 11-0 in Big Sky play, all at line one, last season. Petrei also went 17-4 in doubles and 7-1 in Big Sky play while playing primarily with Lucia Badillos at line three. Petrei did no play in the Vandals' season opener against Wyoming, however, as Badillos started at line one in her stead.
 
Badillos was an All-Big Sky honorable mention last season, and the Vandals also return All-Big Sky second-team selection Maria Tavares.
Sunday promises to be a challenging Big Sky opener, then, but the Vikings shouldn't be too alarmed by the challenge, as they host Idaho at 10 a.m. Sunday. And if the Vikings can pull off the upset of the two-time defending Big Sky tournament champions, then they'll definitely know how to open things with a bang.
 
MATCH INFO:
Feb. 5 – vs. Idaho – Vancouver, Wash. (Club Green Meadows) – 10 a.m. (PT)
 
FOLLOW THE VIKINGS ON SOCIAL MEDIA:
Fans can follow the Portland State women's tennis team all year on Twitter at @ViksWTEN. Live updates from most home matches will be posted on that account. Fans can also find the Vikings on Instagram at @vikswten.
 
SCOUTING IDAHO:
• The Idaho Vandals (0-1) opened their season last Saturday with a 6-1 neutral-site loss to the University of Wyoming. The Vandals' lone win in the match came at line three, where Jessica Brzozowska beat Wyoming's Milka Genkova 2-6, 6-2, 6-3.
• The Vandals won the Big Sky tournament for the second straight year last season, sweeping past Northern Arizona, 4-0, in the final. The Vandals went 19-9 overall and 9-2 in Big Sky play last season, and return five of their eight letterwinners from that team, including 2016 Big Sky MVP Marianna Petrei. The Vandals did lose All-Big Sky first-team selection Belen Barcenilla off last year's team, but returned all-conference second-team selection Maria Tavares, as well as all-conference honorable mention Lucia Badillos.
• Marianna Petrei went 22-3 overall in singles and 11-0 in Big Sky play – all at line one – during her Big Sky MVP season in 2016. Petrei also went 17-4 in doubles and 7-1 in Big Sky play while playing primarily with Lucia Badillos at line three. Petrei did no play in the Vandals' season opener against Wyoming, however, as Badillos started at line one in her stead.
• Lucia Badillos was playing just the second match of her career at line one against Wyoming last Saturday
• The Vandals will play the University of Portland Saturday, a day before they play the Vikings.
• The Vandals have a relatively small team in general, with only seven players listed on their roster. The players they have are experienced, however, as only two of the seven are freshmen, and the two freshmen came in with extensive junior experience on the Australian circuit.
 
ALL-TIME SERIES VERSUS IDAHO:
The Vandals lead the Vikings 9-1 in the all-time series between the two teams. The Vikings broke through for their first win against the Vandals in 2013 – a 5-2 win at home – but the Vandals have won the teams' two matches since then, both by 6-1 scores.
 
LAST TIME OUT:
It'll have been over two weeks since the Vikings last played when they take on the Vandals Sunday, as the team hasn't suited up since a 6-1 loss to the University of Portland in its season opener on Jan. 21. Sophomore Taylor Rees provided the lone point for the Vikings in the dual, as she played a tight match against Portland's Kara Okazaki at line six and beat her 6-4, 6-1. Rees fought through a nervy first set against Okazaki, as she lost a break while serving with the lead at 4-3 late in the first set. Rees broke right back, however, and then served out the set 6-4. Rees then breezed through the second set, winning 6-1 to complete her straight-sets win. The other bright spot for the Vikings came in doubles, where sophomore Brianna Thompson and senior Sabina-Elena Preda pulled out a dominant, 6-2 win over Okazaki and Jelena Lazarevic of UP at line two. Thompson and Preda hadn't played with each other before their match against UP, but showed no signs of that in winning their debut match together.
 
UPCOMING:
The Vikings face a big road trip next weekend, as they head to Grand Forks, N.D., for a Big Sky match against North Dakota next Saturday, Feb. 11. The Vikings and Fighting Hawks will square off at 1 p.m. (CT).
 
RECORD CHASING:
Junior Siena Peri and senior Tracy Dong entered the 2017 dual season already owning the career records for wins at No. 2 and No. 3 singles, respectively, and a couple of their teammates could join them as the all-time leaders at their respective positions this season. Senior Sabina-Elena Preda ranks second all-time in wins at No. 4 singles, seven wins behind her former teammate Megan Govi, who set the record with 23 career wins at the position. Sophomore Taylor Rees, meanwhile, currently ranks tied for second all-time with eight career wins at No. 6 singles, only five wins behind the record Alexa McDonald set at 13 from 2012-15. Preda and Dong also rank second and third, respectively, in Big Sky singles wins, with Preda only three wins off the record of 20 that Govi set from 2012-15. Preda has a chance to set the career record for Big Sky doubles wins as well, as she currently ranks tied for third all-time with 13 career conference doubles wins, just four behind the record another former teammate of hers, Dané Vorster, set at 17 from 2014-16. Additionally, Preda has an outside chance to break the school record in overall doubles wins, as her total of 22 ranks just 11 behind Govi's record of 33. Preda tied the all-time record for wins at No. 2 doubles with her win against UP, too, and will move out of a four-way tie for the record with Katie Slizewski, Lisa Bessman and Marina Todd with her next win.
 
NEWCOMERS:
The Vikings added three newcomers over the offseason – all of which come from Australia – in sophomore transfers Georgia Dobell and Brianna Thompson, and freshman Sally Partington. Thompson had the best fall season of the three newcomers in singles, as she went 3-4 with two of her three wins coming against Big Sky opponents. Partington, meanwhile, had the best fall season in doubles, as she went 5-3 in doubles, including a 3-0 mark against teams from Eastern Washington. Thompson spent her first year of college tennis at Charleston Southern, where she as a Big South All-Conference first-team selection in doubles, and a Big South All-Conference second-team selection in singles. Dobell played her first year of college tennis at Campbell University.
 
2016 SEASON RECAP:
Portland State had a tough year in 2016, going 6-9 overall and 5-6 in Big Sky play, and missed the Big Sky tournament for the first time since 2013. The Vikings stood at 4-3 in Big Sky play at one point, but a narrow 4-3 loss to Weber State in March was the first of a late-season three-match losing streak that knocked the Vikings out of tournament contention. The Vikings still pulled out some historic wins in 2016, however, including two 7-0 sweeps of conference opponents – the first two top-to-bottom sweeps of Big Sky opponents in program history. Additionally, the Vikings closed out their season with their first-ever win over perennial conference powerhouse Montana, as they beat the Grizzlies 6-1 on the Grizzlies' home court. The Vikings had never beaten either Montana or Montana State in the state of Montana before their win over the Grizzlies, and had also been 0-6 in road matches to that point in the season. Departed senior Dané Vorser also set the program record for Big Sky doubles wins (17), and broke her own single-season school record for Big Sky doubles wins along with then-freshman Taylor Rees. Fellow departed senior Kelsey Frey also left the program with the all-time lead in wins at No. 3 doubles (22), as she moved past her former doubles partner Megan Govi during the season.