Complete Match Notes (PDF)

PORTLAND, Ore. — The Portland State women's tennis team takes some momentum into a difficult road trip this weekend, as the Vikings head into back-to-back matches at elevation at Air Force and Northern Colorado on the back of a two-match win streak over Montana and Southern Utah.
 
The Vikings reversed some bad mojo with their wins over Montana and Southern Utah, as both came in close matches, with the Vikings beating Montana, 4-3, and Southern Utah, 5-2. The Vikings had been 0-5 in matches decided by 4-3 or 5-2 scores this season before their win over Montana, giving the Vikings renewed confidence they could pull out a close match should either of this weekend's matches go that way.
 
The Vikings also beat Southern Utah while playing at over 3,000 feet of elevation, which should give the Vikings confidence even as the elevation gets higher this weekend. The Vikings will play the Air Force Academy at over 7,000 feet of elevation, and play Northern Colorado at over 4,500 feet of elevation.
 
Portland State beat Northern Colorado in the teams' last match against each other in Greeley, as the Vikings came back from a 3-0 deficit to beat the Bears, 4-3, in 2015.
 
The Vikings should also gain some momentum from the records they broke last weekend.
 
Senior Sabina-Elena Preda broke the Portland State career record for Big Sky singles wins with her 6-0, 6-1 win over Southern Utah's Cloe Stocking last Saturday. That win gave Preda her 21st career conference singles win, moving her past former teammate, Megan Govi, who had set the record with 20 career conference singles wins from 2012-15.
 
Junior Siena Peri and senior Tracy Dong, meanwhile, broke the career record for Big Sky doubles wins by a team with their eighth conference win together. Peri and Dong beat Southern Utah's Mikala Lowrance and Teresa De Enrique Schmidt 6-2 at line one in setting the record, which also tied them for the career record for wins at No. 1 doubles by a team, while Peri tied the career record for individual wins at No. 1 doubles.
 
Peri and Dong will break the record for wins at No. 1 doubles by a team with their next win together, which would also give Peri the individual wins record at No. 1 doubles.
 
Both records could come this weekend, which would not only give the Vikings continued momentum following two straight wins, but back-to-back record-setting weekends as well.
 
Both matches this weekend start at 10 a.m. (MT), with the Vikings facing Air Force Saturday, and Northern Colorado Sunday.
 
MATCH INFO:
April 8 – at Air Force – U.S. Air Force Academy, Colo. (AFA Intercollegiate Tennis Courts) – 10 a.m. (MT)
April 9 – at Northern Colorado – Greeley, Colo. (Weather dependent) – 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.
 
LIVE RESULTS:
Live results will be available for the Vikings' match against Air Force on Saturday. Fans can find the link to live results on the women's tennis schedule page on GoViks.com.
 
SCOUTING AIR FORCE:
• The Air Force Falcons (13-6) come into the weekend on a seven-match win streak, all of which have come at home. The Falcons have a 10-1 record at home, where they've beaten three Big Sky teams this season. The Falcons beat Northern Colorado, 5-0, on Feb. 11, Idaho State, 5-2, on March 4, and North Dakota, 7-0, on March 14. The Falcons will host Boise State at home on April 7, a day before they face the Vikings.
• The Falcons have a good mix of experience and youth on their team, with three seniors to go along with four underclassmen.
• Senior Chloe Forlini has led the Falcons at line one, and has gone 5-6 at the top position this season.
• Freshman TJ Fumagalli has the best record on the team with an 11-0 record in singles between 1-0 at line two and 10-0 at line three. Senior Jocelle Rudico and sophomore Elizabeth Barnickel have also each won seven matches during the dual season, with Rudico 7-2 between lines four (2-0) and six (5-2), and Barnickel 7-4 between lines two (7-3) and three (0-1).
• Famagalli and Barnickel also each have 10-1 records in doubles this season, and the pair have each won seven matches at line one as well.
 
ALL-TIME VERSUS AIR FORCE:
The Vikings are 0-2 all-time against Air Force, but haven't played the Falcons since 2012. The Vikings lost to the Falcons, 7-0, in 2012, and lost, 6-1, in 2009.
 
SCOUTING NORTHERN COLORADO:
• The Northern Colorado Bears (7-9, 4-5 Big Sky) can clinch a spot in the Big Sky tournament with a win over the Vikings this Sunday, and an Eastern Washington loss next week to Idaho State or Weber State. The Bears are in position to play for a Big Sky tournament spot after beating Eastern Washington (5-2), North Dakota (5-2), Montana (4-3) and Weber State (5-2).
• The Bears have been stronger at home than they have been on the road this season, as they have a 5-3 home record versus a 2-6 away record. The Bears have been more even, home versus away, in Big Sky matches, though, as they are 2-2 in Big Sky home matches versus 2-3 in Big Sky road matches.
• The Bears have three seniors on their team in Marissa Baca, Beth Coton and Courtney Schulte, but also have five underclassmen between three sophomores and two freshmen.
• Sophomore Anna Battersby has led the Bears with a 6-8 record at line one this season, including a 4-5 record in Big Sky matches. Batttersby and Baca also make up the Bears' most successful doubles team, as they are 10-3 together, including a 7-1 record in Big Sky matches, between an 8-3 record at line two, and a 2-0 record at line three.
• Schulte leads the Bears with five Big Sky singles wins this season, and also leads the team with eight wins overall between a 3-2 record at line three and 5-5 record at line four.
• Baca and freshman Ella Mora also each have three Big Sky singles wins this season, with Baca 6-10 overall between playing at lines two (1-0), three (3-8) and four (2-2), while Mora is 6-7 overall between playing at lines four (1-0), five (4-5) and six (1-2).
• The Bears have been a strong doubles team this season, as they are 25-17 combined as a team in doubles, including a 14-9 combined record in Big Sky matches. The Bears also have winning records at lines two and three, where they are 10-5 and 8-4 as a team, respectively.
 
ALL-TIME VERSUS NORTHERN COLORADO:
The Vikings are 3-6 all-time against Northern Colorado, but have won their last two matches against the Bears, including a 4-3 road win in 2015. That win was the Vikings' first-ever win in Greeley, where they had been 0-4 before then.
 
LAST TIME OUT:
The Vikings won their second match in a row Saturday with a 5-2 win over Southern Utah. The Vikings pulled out a close doubles point to start the match, and added wins at lines two, four, five and six in singles. The Vikings' win included a couple of record wins in singles and doubles for seniors Sabina-Elena Preda and Tracy Dong, and junior Siena Peri. Preda broke the career record for Big Sky singles wins with her 21st career win, as she only dropped a game while beating Southern Utah's Cloe Stocking, 6-0, 6-1 at line five. Dong and Peri, meanwhile, broke the Portland State career record for Big Sky doubles wins by a team with their eighth career win together. Dong and Peri broke the record with a 6-2 win at line one against Southern Utah's Mikala Lowrance and Teresa De Enrique Schmidt.
 
UPCOMING:
The Vikings conclude their regular season at home next weekend with matches against Sacramento State and Bellevue College. The Vikings wrap Big Sky play with their match against Sacramento State Saturday, and will play Bellevue College in a non-conference match to conclude the season Sunday.
 
CLOSE MATCHES:
Tormented by close losses all season, the Vikings have suddenly found the secret sauce with two close wins back-to-back. The Vikings had been 0-4 in matches decided by 4-3 scores this season before beating Montana, 4-3, on March 26, and then beat Southern Utah, 5-2, last Saturday. Overall, the Vikings' last five matches have all been decided by 4-3 or 5-2 scores, as well as seven of their last nine. The Vikings had been 0-5 in those matches before their win over Montana, but are now 2-5 going into this weekend.
 
STRONG DOUBLES:
Despite the team's struggles, the Vikings have been a strong doubles team throughout this season, as they've won the doubles point in four of their last five matches, and six of their last nine. Senior Tracy Dong and junior Siena Peri have been a strong lead doubles team for the Vikings, as they've gone 6-2 together during the dual season, all of which has come at line one. Dong and Peri have won their last four doubles matches together, and are 4-1 in Big Sky matches. The pair broke the career record for Big Sky doubles wins by a team with a 6-2 win at line one in the Vikings' match against Southern Utah last Saturday. That win also tied Dong and Peri for the career wins record at No. 1 doubles by a team, while Peri also tied the individual record for 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 at least three of their last four matches this season. The pair already own the record for best career win percentage by a team, as their 13-5 record together gives them a win percentage of .722.
 
PREDA CHASING RECORDS AS A SENIOR:
Senior Sabina-Elena Preda broke the Portland State career record for Big Sky singles wins with her 21st career conference win in the Vikings' 5-2 win over Southern Utah on April 1. The win moved Preda past the record her former teammate, Megan Govi, set at 20 from 2012-15. Preda also moved within one win of tying the career record for Big Sky doubles wins with a win against the Thunderbirds last Saturday. Preda has 16 career conference doubles wins currently, just 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 third all-time with 28 career singles wins, but could finish her career in second place all-time if she wins two more matches this season. If Preda can pick up two more wins, then she'll move 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. Dong currently ranks sixth all-time in career singles wins with 25, two wins out of a tie for fourth with Leinani McAneney and Marti Pellicano. Dong also ranks fourth all-time in career singles win percentage (.543), and ranks third all-time in Big Sky singles wins with 17 career conference wins. Dong also owns the career records for wins at No. 3 singles (20) and win percentage at No. 3 singles (.645), and has moved into a tie for seventh all-time in wins at No. 2 singles (5). 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 (21), overall doubles win percentage (.553), Big Sky doubles wins (13), wins at No. 1 doubles (13), win percentage at No. 1 doubles (.650), 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.