Doubles Shine for Vikings at Beach Tennis Fall Tournament

In the first hard court tournament of the season it was the doubles teams for the Portland State women that led the way. Taylor Rees and Alli Valk reached the finals of the Doubles B draw at the Beach Tennis Tournament.

Rees/Valk opened up the tournament with a dominating 6-2 win over Grand Canyon's team of Infantino/Lirzin in the first round on Friday. They then advanced to the final with a win over the hosts Long Beach State on Saturday.

In the final, the Vikings staged an impressive comeback but couldn't overcome a 0-5 start, falling 6-3.

In the same draw, Ashley Knecht and Gerda Upeniece battled back from an opening match loss to reach the consolation final. After a 6-2 loss in their first match, they grinded out an impressive 7-6 (5) victory to reach the consolation final.

They fell to the same fate as Rees/Valk, starting slowly on Sunday morning and falling behind 0-5. They also battled until the end, winning three straight games to extend the match. It wasn't enough in the end, as Knecht/Upeniece fell by the same 6-3 score.

"They fought really well but we just can't go down 0-5 to good teams. We didn't control the net, we didn't control the middle. We had deuce games but we just kind of hurt ourselves a little bit. They were moving before we were and when we did move we weren't executing the volleys. It was a kind of an ugly start, but I was really proud of the way they recovered and fought back."

In the Doubles A Draw, Portland State's Lotti Meszaros/Jacinta Milenkoski and Eszter Zador/Nina Nikitovic both dropped their first three matches of the tournament. The two teams both played another match on Sunday, with Zador/Nikitovic beating a team from Grand Canyon 7-5. Meszaros/Milenkoski fell 6-2 in their lone match on Sunday.

In the singles competition, freshman Jacinta Milenkoski and sophomore Gerda Upeniece each picked up a win in their respective draws. Milenkoski lost her opener in Flight A but picked up a hard-fought 6-4, 7-6(2) win to move into the consolation semifinal. She lost that match 6-4, 6-3 to Skyla Alcon of CSUN.

On Sunday, Milenkoski defeated Carlota Casampere from Long Beach State to bring her record to .500 on the weekend. She outlasted Casampere 6-2, 3-6, 1-0 (12-10) in an extra match. In tight matches, the freshman proved that she has the nerves to see it through to the end.

"I had to just stay really calm and focused on my gameplan and what I was trying to do," Milenkoski said. "I had to stay positive throughout even though my opponents had a setpoint and a match point, I just had to focus on staying calm in those pressure situations."

The maturity of the young freshman impressed coach Jay Sterling, particularly in the tiebreaker against Casampere.

"I'm super impressed with Jacinta as a freshman. She still has a lot to learn, but this weekend she matured a lot on the court right in front of our eyes," Sterling said. "There was a reason she won that match; mentally she stayed really even keel. Her emotions were steady and she let points that she lost go so she was ready for the next point."

Upeniece, playing in Flight C, was the only Viking to win her opening match. She defeated a Grand Canyon player 6-1, 6-2 to advance to a Saturday match with Sophyia Gaisina from LMU, which she eventually lost.

Taylor Rees picked up her first singles win in an extra match played on Sunday, cruising past a player from Cal State Fullerton 6-1, 6-2. She was the third Portland State player to pick up a win on the weekend as four Vikings were unable to get a singles win.

"We had some pretty tough draws and I thought we did a pretty good job," Sterling said. "I'm a coach so I will never be completely pleased and happy and I think there are a lot of things we need to work on. As a team I think we need to work on playing a little smarter when we are up 30-0 in games, we've had some unforced errors enter in those key times."

Sterling said that the team all share many areas that they need to improve and that practices will be effective as they look to continue to grow during this fall season. One thing that is a constant in Sterling's programs is hard workers and polite players on and off the court.

"I'm always proud of our team how they compete so hard with grace and class and that makes me really proud as a coach," Sterling said. "I had so many coaches come up and say that they were impressed with how hard our girls compete and how nice they are to other players, coaches and umpires."

The Vikings now shift their focus to playing at home as they are set to host the Portland Seattle Battle on Oct. 12-14.

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Players Mentioned

Ashley Knecht: Senior; 3L

Taylor Rees: Senior; 3L

Gerda Upeniece: Sophomore; 1L

Alli Valk: Junior; 1L

Eszter Zador: Junior; 1L

Jacinta Milenkoski: Freshman; HS

Nina Nikitovic: Sophomore; TR

Lotti Meszaros: Sophomore; TR

Players Mentioned

Ashley Knecht
: Senior; 3L

Taylor Rees
: Senior; 3L

Gerda Upeniece
: Sophomore; 1L

Alli Valk
: Junior; 1L

Eszter Zador
: Junior; 1L

Jacinta Milenkoski
: Freshman; HS

Nina Nikitovic
: Sophomore; TR

Lotti Meszaros
: Sophomore; TR