Complete Match Notes (PDF)

PORTLAND, Ore. — The Portland State women's tennis team returns home for a match against Eastern Washington Saturday, starting a run of home matches to close out the season.
 
The Vikings' match against the Eagles kicks off a stretch of seven matches to close out the season, five of which will come at home.
 
The Vikings will stay home over the next two weeks after their match against the Eagles, as they host Portland next Friday, March 17, and then return to Big Sky play with a home match against Montana on March 26.
 
The Vikings will play the Eagles at 1 p.m. (PT) Saturday at Club Green Meadows in Vancouver, Wash.
 
MATCH INFO:
March 11 – vs. Eastern Washington – Vancouver, Wash. (Club Green Meadows – 1 p.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 EASTERN WASHINGTON:
• The Eastern Washington Eagles (3-8, 1-1 Big Sky) have won three of their last four matches heading into a match Wednesday against Idaho. The Eagles split their first two Big Sky matches of the season, as they lost 5-2 to Northern Colorado at home on Feb. 18, but then beat North Dakota 5-2 at home on Feb. 25.
• The Eagles return five of the six players who played against the Vikings in singles last season, and have an experienced roster overall this season. The Eagles have five upperclassmen on their nine-player roster between three seniors – Erin Blessing, Katrina Domingo and Carolina Lopez – and two juniors – Janaya Smith and Rachel Swindell. Smith and sophomore Faye Worrall also return after earning All-Big Sky honorable mention last season.
• Faye Worrall has led the Eagles at line one this season, and has gone 2-0 in Big Sky matches at the top singles position so far.
• Erin Blessing and Rachel Swindell have split time at lines two and three, with Blessing 4-3 at line two and 0-4 at line three, while Swindell has gone 0-4 at line two and 3-2 at line three.
• The Eagles have really shaken things up in the bottom of their singles lineup, as Katrina Domingo, freshman Marta Heinen and Carolina Lopez have played at three different positions in the Eagles' lineup, while freshman Valentina Sottile has gone 1-0 at line five and 3-4 at line six.
• The Eagles have gone 11-20 combined in doubles overall this season, and 4-2 combined in Big Sky matches.
• The Eagles swept their doubles matches against North Dakota on Feb. 25, with Janaya Smith and Faye Worrall at line one, Erin Blessing and Rachel Swindell at line two and Katrina Domingo and Valentina Sottile at line three. Smith and Worrall have gone 2-1 together so far this season, while Blessing and Swindell have gone 3-0 and Domingo and Sottile have gone 5-3 together.
 
ALL-TIME SERIES VERSUS EASTERN WASHINGTON:
The Vikings trail the all-time series between them and the Eagles, 6-16. The Vikings had been on a hot streak against the Eagles before last season, however, as the Vikings won four of five matches from 2011-15. The Eagles snapped a three-match winning streak in the series for the Vikings with a 5-2 win last season, their first win over the Vikings since 2012.
 
LAST TIME OUT:
The Vikings lost a pair of matches on the road to Idaho State and Weber State last weekend, losing 6-1 to the Bengals on Thursday and 4-3 to the Wildcats on Saturday. Freshman Sally Partington provided the Vikings' lone point in the Vikings' loss to the Bengals, as she beat Idaho State's Melissa Coburn, 6-4, 6-3. The Vikings had more success against the Wildcats on Saturday, starting with a doubles-point victory behind wins at lines one and three. Senior Sabina-Elena Preda and sophomore Georgia Dobell clinched the doubles point for the Vikings with a 6-4 win at line three, following a 6-2 win at line one for senior Tracy Dong and junior Siena Peri. The Wildcats came back to win the matches at the top four lines in singles, however, giving them the dual. Preda and sophomore Taylor Rees pulled out wins for the Vikings at lines five and six, and did so in dominant fashion as both players only dropped three total games while winning in straight sets. Preda beat Weber State's Devi Hasan 6-3, 6-0 at line five, while Rees beat Weber State's Emily Tanner 6-1, 6-2 at line six.
 
UPCOMING:
The Vikings remain home for a match against cross-town rival University of Portland next Friday. The Vikings host the Pilots at Club Green Meadows in Vancouver, Wash., with the first serve set for 10 a.m. (PT).
 
PREDA CHASING RECORDS AS A SENIOR:
Senior Sabina-Elena Preda's swept her singles and doubles matches in the Vikings' loss to Weber State last Saturday, helping her along her chase up the Vikings' record book in her final year at Portland State. Preda has played at line five since returning to the Vikings' lineup, but she 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. Preda also moved into a tie for second all-time in Big Sky doubles wins with her win with Dobell against the Wildcats last Saturday. The win gave Preda 15 career conference doubles wins, just two behind the record another former teammate of hers, Dané Vorster, set at 17 from 2014-16. Additionally, Preda ranks second all-time in Big Sky singles wins, and moved within one of the record with her 19th conference singles win Saturday. Govi set the record for Big Sky singles wins at 20, and Preda will have at least seven more Big Sky matches this season in which to match or break the record. 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.
 
DOUBLE, DOUBLE, TOIL AND TROUBLE:
The Vikings have won the doubles point in three of their last five matches, though that hasn't necessarily been a sign of ultimate success, as the Vikings lost all three of those matches, 4-3. Still, the Vikings have gotten off to a good start in all of those matches, and all three doubles teams have contributed. Senior Tracy Dong and junior Siena Peri have led the Vikings' success in doubles from the top at line one, as they've won in all three of the Vikings' doubles-point wins, and has won three of their last four matches overall. Dong and Peri have a 3-2 record together overall during the dual season, and have gone 2-1 together in Big Sky matches. Senior Sabina-Elena Preda and sophomore Georgia Dobell have also won their matches at line three in two of the Vikings' three recent doubles-point victories, and clinched the doubles point for the team with their win against Weber State last Saturday. Overall, Preda and Dobell have gone 2-3 together during the dual season, and have gone 2-2 in Big Sky matches. Sophomore Taylor Rees and freshman Sally Partington also won in the Vikings' doubles-point victory over UC Irvine on Feb. 20.
 
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.