Complete Match Notes (PDF)

PORTLAND, Ore. — Fresh off its first win of the season, the Portland State women's tennis team will now look to be greedy and grab a second in a row at Southern Utah this Saturday, as the Vikings play the Thunderbirds at 10 a.m. (MT) in Cedar City, Utah.
 
The Vikings came back from a 3-1 deficit in the dual against the Grizzlies last Sunday, winning the final three matches – two in three sets – to win, 4-3.
 
The Thunderbirds come into the match with similar momentum, as they beat Eastern Washington, 4-3, earlier Wednesday to snap a 15-match losing streak. The Thunderbirds hadn't won since opening their season with a win over Lewis-Clark State, but snapped out of that with a 4-3 win over the Eagles. Additionally, the Thunderbirds, like the Vikings, snapped a run of close losses in beating the Eagles, 4-3, as the Thunderbirds had lost four 4-3 matches earlier in the season.
 
The Vikings had also lost four 4-3 matches before beating the Grizzlies, 4-3, giving the Vikings and Thunderbirds very similar trajectories going into their match Saturday.
 
Saturday's match will start at 10 a.m. (MT), and will be the Thunderbirds' second home match of the season, following their first home of the season against the Eagles Wednesday.
 
MATCH INFO:
April 1 – at Southern Utah – Cedar City, Utah – 10 a.m. (MT)
 
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 SOUTHERN UTAH:
• The Southern Utah Thunderbirds (2-15, 1-6 Big Sky) snapped a 15-match losing streak with a 4-3 win over Eastern Washington Wednesday. Before their win over the Eagles, the Thunderbirds hadn't won since a 6-1 win over Lewis-Clark State to open their season on Jan. 27. The Thunderbirds had some close losses in the middle of their losing streak, however, including a couple of 4-3 losses to Big Sky schools North Dakota and Montana on the road.
• The Thunderbirds only have six players on their 2017 roster, but have fairly experienced players within that with three juniors and one senior.
• Senior Evgenia Marushko leads the Thunderbirds from the top of the lineup, as she has a 7-8 record at line one this season while the rest of the team stands 16-62 combined. Additionally, the Thunderbirds don't have more than four wins at any other line in singles, and have two players with losing streaks of seven or more matches.
• The Thunderbirds have won the doubles point in three matches this season, and those matches account for eight of the team's 11 wins in doubles this season. Without those matches, the Thunderbirds would have just a 3-34 record in doubles matches this season, but instead are 11-34 combined as a team.
• Sophomore Charity Sagiao and freshman Chloe Stocking have the best record of any doubles team for the Thunderbirds, as they are 5-11 together while playing at line three this season. The other two doubles team for the Thunderbirds have split time between playing at lines one and two, where the Thunderbrids are 2-12 and 4-11 combined this season, respectively.
 
ALL-TIME SERIES VERSUS SOUTHERN UTAH:
The Vikings have won their last three matches against the Thunderbirds, and lead their all-time series against the Thunderbirds, 3-1. The Vikings have had more troubles against the Thunderbirds in Cedar City, however, as they lost 5-2 in Cedar City in 2013, and won a 4-3 match in Cedar City in 2015.  
 
LAST TIME OUT:
The Vikings broke through for their first win of the season with a 4-3 win over Montana last Sunday. The Vikings trailed 3-1 in the dual against the Grizzlies, but won the final three singles matches – two in three sets – to pull out the dual, 4-3. The Vikings took the doubles point from the Grizzlies behind wins at lines one and two, but then lost the first three singles matches to finish to fall behind, 3-1. Junior Siena Peri started the comeback for the Vikings from there, as she won a back-and-forth match against Montana Hannah Sulz in three sets at line one. Peri came back from being a break down to win the first set against Sulz, and then won the final five games in the third set to pull out a 6-4, 1-6, 6-2 win. Sophomore Georgia Dobell also won a back-and-forth match at line three, as she ran out to a 4-0 lead in the first set, but then had to fight off a comeback against the Grizzlies' Catherine Orfanos. Dobell still pulled out the first set in a tiebreaker, 7-6 (5), but then dropped the second set 6-2. Orfanos broke to go up 3-2 in the third set, too, but Dobell took over from there, breaking back right away while winning the final four games to close out a 7-6 (5), 2-6, 6-3 win. Sophomore Taylor Rees closed out the comeback win for the Vikings at line six, as she beat Montana's Stanzi Stuijt 7-5, 6-3.
 
UPCOMING:
The Vikings continue on the road for a pair of matches in Colorado next weekend. The Vikings will play Air Force Saturday, a day before the Vikings play at Northern Colorado Sunday. Both matches will start at 10 a.m. (MT).
 
CLOSE MATCHES:
The Vikings broke through for their first win last Sunday, and did so while finally pulling out a close match with a 4-3 win over Montana. The Vikings had been 0-4 in matches decided by 4-3 scores this season before Sunday, making the fact the Vikings pulled out the match all the sweeter. Overall, six of the Vikings' 11 matches have been decided by 4-3 or 5-2 scores, including the last four straight.
 
STRONG DOUBLES:
Despite the team's struggles this season, the Vikings have been a strong doubles team, as they've won the doubles point in three of their last four matches, and five of their last eight. Senior Tracy Dong and junior Siena Peri have also been a strong lead doubles team for the Vikings, as they've gone 5-2 together during the dual season, all of which has come at line one. Dong and Peri have won their last three doubles matches together, and are 3-1 in Big Sky matches. The pair are also close to breaking several career records for doubles teams, and already hold the best overall doubles win percentage of any team with a 12-5 career record together. Dong and Peri will also set the career record for Big Sky doubles wins with their next win together, and will also tie the record for most wins at No. 1 doubles. Dong and Peri could also set the record for most overall wins by a doubles team if they can win four matches over the Vikings' final five matches of the season.
 
PREDA CHASING RECORDS AS A SENIOR:
Senior Sabina-Elena Preda tied the Portland State career record for Big Sky singles wins with a 6-2, 6-0 win in the Vikings' match against Eastern Washington on March 11. The win gave Preda 20 conference wins in her career, equaling the total that Preda's former teammate, Megan Govi, set during her career from 2012-15. Preda also stands just two wins from tying the career record for Big Sky doubles wins. Preda has 15 career conference doubles wins currently, two behind the record another former teammate of hers, Dané Vorster, set at 17 from 2014-16. Preda also tied the all-time record for wins at No. 2 doubles earlier this season, and will move out of a four-way tie for the record with Katie Slizewski, Lisa Bessman and Marina Todd with her next win. Preda does not have enough matches left on the Vikings' schedule to catch the career record Govi set in overall singles wins, but could still move up to second all-time with a few more wins this season. Preda currently stands tied for third all-time with 27 career singles wins, but could finish her career in second place all-time with three more wins. Another three wins would move Preda past yet another former teammate of hers, Alexa McDonald, who currently stands second all-time with 29 career singles wins.
 
DONG RINGS THE BELL AS A SENIOR:
Like fellow senior Sabina-Elena Preda, Tracy Dong has been cementing her legacy during her final year with the Vikings. With her three-set win in the Vikings' match against Eastern Washington on March 11, Dong moved up to sixth all-time in career singles wins with 24, and ranks fourth all-time in career singles win percentage (.533). Additionally, Dong ranks third all-time in Big Sky singles wins with 16 career conference wins, just four behind the record Preda and Megan Govi (2012-15) currently share at 20. Dong also owns the career records for wins at No. 3 singles and win percentage at No. 3 singles at 20 and .645, respectively, and has moved up to eighth all-time in wins at No. 2 singles (4). Dong has been one of the best doubles players in program history, as well, as she ranks in the top 10 all-time in career doubles wins (20), overall doubles win percentage (.541), Big Sky doubles wins (12), wins at No. 1 doubles (12), win percentage at No. 1 doubles (.632), wins at No. 2 doubles (8) and win percentage at No. 2 doubles (.471).
 
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.