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MISSOULA, Mont. — Down to four players, the Portland State women's tennis team started its match against Montana in a 2-0 hole that it couldn't dig itself out of, falling 7-0 to the Grizzlies in both teams' Big Sky opener Saturday at the Peak Racquet Club.
 
The Vikings have played with four or five players in all four matches this season. The Vikings opened the season with four players against UC Davis, and played with five players against South Dakota and Portland.

"It's tough to start down, but we handled it well and fought and gave ourselves opportunities," head coach Jay Sterling said. "The team believes and knows that we can still pull out a dual win, but we just need to take care of the points a little better, especially when we're in control.

"We fought hard and improved in the second sets across the board, which is what we like to see."
 
Sophomore newcomer Alli Valk played her third match at line one with the short-handed lineup, and once again challenged for a win despite playing above where she would normally. Valk took the first set off Montana's Cam Kincaid 6-2, but then couldn't hold off a comeback as Kincaid won the second set and an ensuing 10-point tiebreaker to take their match 2-6, 6-3, 1-0 (10-6).
 
Sophomore newcomer Eszter Zador and junior Ashley Knecht also played a tight match at No. 2 doubles, as they took Montana's Julia Ronney and Nathalie Joanlanne to a tiebreaker. Zador and Knecht won three straight games, including two breaks, after going 3-5 down but then couldn't serve out the match at 6-5 up. Ronney and Joanlanne broke in the final service game to force the tiebreaker, and then ran away with it once in the breaker for the 7-6 (1) win.
 
The Vikings will be back in action Sunday for a road match at Montana State.

"We're in a challenging situation right now with the health and availability of some of our players, but these ladies handled it well - like champions, even - which will set us up to be in a good situation as our other players heal and return to the lineup."

First serve between the Vikings and Bobcats will be at 10 a.m. (MT).


Montana 7, Portland State 0
Feb 10, 2018 at Missoula, Mont. (Peak Racquet Club) 

Singles competition

1. KINCAID, Cam (UM) def. VALK, Alli (PSU) 2-6, 6-3, 1-0 (10-6)

2. JOANLANNE, Nathalie (UM) def. ZADOR, Eszter (PSU) 6-1, 6-3

3. BOSTROM, Bianca (UM) def. UPENIECE, Gerda (PSU) 6-0, 6-1

4. ORFANOS, Catherine (UM) def. KNECHT, Ashley (PSU) 6-0, 6-1

5. MAHER, Eimear (UM) def. No player (PSU), by default

6. PANIC, Milica (UM) def. No player (PSU), by default

 

Doubles competition

1. KINCAID, Cam/BOSTROM, Bianca (UM) def. VALK, Alli/UPENIECE, Gerda (PSU) 6-1

2. RONNEY, Julia/JOANLANNE, Nathalie (UM) def. ZADOR, Eszter/KNECHT, Ashley (PSU) 7-6 (7-1)

3. MAHER, Eimear/PANIC, Milica (UM) def. No player/No player (PSU), by default

 

Match Notes

Portland State 0-4 (0-1 BSC)

Montana 3-3 (1-0 BSC)

Order of finish: Doubles (1,2); Singles (3,4,2,1)

Official: Schwartz, Delman T-2:30 A-23