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VANCOUVER, Wash. — The Portland State women's tennis team split its six singles matches with North Dakota Sunday but a critical doubles point came back to haunt the Vikings as the Fighting Hawks won 4-3 at Club Green Meadows.
 
The Vikings (0-9, 0-5 Big Sky) won the matches at the top three spots in the lineup, but the Fighting Hawks (3-9, 1-4 Big Sky) swept the bottom three matches and took the doubles point with wins at lines two and three.
 
"I'm really proud of the top of our lineup today – Siena [Peri], Eszter [Zador] and Alli [Valk]," PSU head women's tennis coach Jay Sterling said. "Today's match really came down to doubles and we just had too many unforced errors to pull it out. The motto this year is 'if it's supposed to be, it's up to me.' And so for a day like today, everybody needed to jump in and take care of business. It was close, but not quite enough so you just live to play another day."
 
The wins at the top of lineup were a bright spot for the Vikings, and none brighter than the win at line three for Alli Valk. Valk had lost a number of close matches earlier in the season, but finally broke through with a three-set win over North Dakota's Isa Sullivan at line three.
 
"Alli played a really difficult opponent today," Sterling said. "Her opponent was a player who just doesn't miss and doesn't have a lot of pace so it was probably one of the most difficult types of players to play and Alli just handled it like a champ. She stayed the course, stayed mentally tough, kept putting herself in position to win games, and wore her opponent down. That was nice to see. We won the battle of fitness on that court.
 
"Nobody deserved a win more than Alli because she's just worked hard. She's dedicated to being awesome."
 
Valk played a back-and-forth first set against Sullivan, as the players traded breaks early and often in the set. Sullivan broke to go up 2-0, but Valk broke back right away to get back on serve in the following game. Valk broke to go up 4-3 a few games later, but Sullivan broke back and then held to take a 5-4 lead in the set. Valk generated the final momentum swing of the set with a break at 5-all, however, and then served out the set in the following game for a 7-5 win.
 
Sullivan rose her level of play in the second set and win it, 6-1, but the players went back-and-forth again in the third set. Sullivan broke Valk to open the third set, but Valk broke back right away to get back on serve. Valk broke again for a 5-3 lead, giving her an opportunity to serve for the match in the following game. Sullivan broke back to stay in the match, but Valk broke her again in the following game to seal a 7-5, 1-6, 6-4 win.
 
Senior Siena Peri also won in three sets against North Dakota's Carmen Palumbo at line one. Peri made the initial break of the match to go up 4-2 in the first set, but Palumbo won four of the next five games to go up a break at 6-5. Peri broke to send the first set into a tiebreaker, but Palumbo pulled out a 7-4 win in the tiebreaker.
 
Peri opened the second set with a break and held that advantage until breaking again for a 5-2 lead. Palumbo mounted a mini-comeback by winning the next two games to get to 5-4, but Peri served out the set in the following game for a 6-4 win.
 
Peri opened the third set with another break, but Palumbo leveled the match again with a break to get to 2-all. Peri won the final four games from there, however, completing a 6-7 (4), 6-4, 6-2 win.
 
"Siena dropped a really close first set, really close tiebreaker, but just kept mentally tough," Sterling said. "She had a great attitude, a really great energy coming out in that second set and got an early break and went up on top. Same thing in the third. She got a nice early break and just really started to find her game.
 
"She still hasn't played a ton of matches between the fall and the spring, but she is such an amazing player that she has so much variety [to her game]. Sometimes when you have that variety it's difficult to figure out what tools you should use for the job and today she handled that really well."
 
Sophomore Eszter Zador was the first Viking to pull out a win Sunday, as she wrapped up her fifth win of the season while beating UND's Elly Hartnett at line two. Zador made the initial break in her match to go up 4-3, and served out the first set a few games later to win, 6-4.
 
Zador took control of the second set early as she won four straight games to go up 4-1. Hartnett got one of the two breaks back later in the set, but Zador broke again in the final game to close a 6-4, 6-3 win.
 
"Eszter just plays so clean and so tough, and she's such a fighter," Sterling said. "What a great kind of person to have on the team. Every match, winning or losing, you can look at her and she's just quietly going about her business like a professional, and I think that's really motivating for the team to see."
 
Zador also joined Peri with a win at No. 1 doubles, as they beat Carmen Palumbo and Elly Hartnett, 6-4. The win marked the 15th career Big Sky doubles win for Peri, who now ranks just two off the record that two of Peri's former teammates – Dané Vorster and Sabina-Elena Preda – currently share at 17.
 
Peri could match the record with two wins next weekend, when the Vikings return to action with home matches against Weber State and Northern Colorado. The Vikings host the Wildcats Friday, March 16, at 10 a.m., and host the Bears Sunday, March 18, at 9 a.m.

North Dakota 4, Portland State 3
Mar 11, 2018 at Vancouver, Wash. (Club Green Meadows) 

Singles competition

1. PERI, Siena (PSU) def. Palumbo, Carmen (UND) 6-7 (4-7), 6-4, 6-2

2. ZADOR, Eszter (PSU) def. Hartnett, Elly (UND) 6-4, 6-3

3. VALK, Alli (PSU) def. Sullivan, Isa (UND) 7-5, 1-6, 6-4

4. Kasilingam, Preethi (UND) def. UPENIECE, Gerda (PSU) 6-2, 6-1

5. Finnigan, Zahra (UND) def. REES, Taylor (PSU) 6-3, 6-1

6. Yasunaga, Jaylee (UND) def. KNECHT, Ashley (PSU) 6-1, 6-1

 

Doubles competition

1. PERI, Siena/ZADOR, Eszter (PSU) def. Palumbo, Carmen/Hartnett, Elly (UND) 6-4

2. Sullivan, Isa/Kasilingam, Preethi (UND) def. VALK, Alli/REES, Taylor (PSU) 6-3

3. Finnigan, Zahra/Lobanova, Masha (UND) def. UPENIECE, Gerda/KNECHT, Ashley (PSU) 7-5

 

Match Notes

North Dakota 3-9, 1-4 BSC

Portland State 0-9, 0-5 BSC

Order of finish: Doubles (2,1,3); Singles (4,5,2,6,1,3)