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VANCOUVER, Wash. — The Portland State women's tennis team was left on the wrong side of another close dual Sunday, as the Vikings lost 6-1 to Southern Utah in a match where three of the six singles matches went past two sets.
 
The Thunderbirds (8-6, 1-2 Big Sky) won two of the three matches that went past two sets, and pulled out a close doubles point against the Vikings (0-12, 0-8 Big Sky). That, coupled with three other straight-set wins, gave the Thunderbirds their first Big Sky win of the season.
 
The doubles loss stung for the Vikings, as they led by a break in the matches at lines one and two, and came back from a break down to level the match at line three.
 
The Vikings took a 3-1 lead on the Thunderbirds' Eira Tobrand and Zoe Tanti at line two, but couldn't hold off their rally as Tobrand and Tanti won five of the final six games to take the match, 6-4.
 
Taylor Rees and Ashley Knecht mounted their own comeback for the Vikings at line three, as they fell behind 4-1 to the Thunderbirds' Laura Martin Lozano and Daniella Cozzi before breaking back to get to 4-all. Each team held serve from there until Martin Lozano and Cozzi broke Rees and Knecht in the 12th game of the match to clinch the doubles point with a 7-5 win.
 
The doubles-point victory gave the Thunderbirds a critical advantage going into what turned out to be a very tight group of singles matches. Three of the first five singles matches went to first-set tiebreakers, and one of the other two matches went to a tiebreaker in the second set.
 
The Vikings handled the close matches well initially, as Siena Peri and Taylor Rees each won their first-set tiebreakers at lines one and five.
 
Peri mounted a dramatic comeback in her tiebreaker against the Thunderbirds' Ghita Nassik at line one. Nassik ran out to a 5-1 lead at the changeover in the first-set tiebreaker, and then earned three set points at 6-3. Peri saved all three and then a fourth at 7-6, however, and then converted on her first set point at 8-7 to win the set, 7-6 (7).
 
Peri and Nassik went to another tiebreaker in the second set of their match, and that one went even deeper than the first. Nassik mounted the comeback this time around, as she saved two match points at 6-4 and 6-5 before earning her first set point at 7-6. Peri didn't concede anything to Nassik, however, as she saved the set point at 7-6, and then another at 8-7 before earning her third match point at 9-8. The final twist of the set went Nassik's way, though, as she saved the match point at 9-8, and then another at 10-9 – the fourth of the tiebreaker for Peri – before closing out the tiebreaker, 12-10.
 
Nassik then won the final four points of the ensuing 10-point match tiebreaker to beat Peri 6-7 (7), 7-6 (10), 1-0 (10-6).
 
Rees won the first set of her match against Cozzi at line five in a tiebreaker, as she shook off a final-game break to win the set, 7-6 (5). Cozzi broke to open the second set of their match, but Rees got the break back to get to 3-all. Cozzi broke again to go up 5-4, however, and then served out the set in the following game to level the match at a set all.
 
Rees got the first break of the third set and solidified it with a hold to go up 4-1, but Cozzi won six of the final seven games to complete a 6-7 (5), 6-4, 7-5 comeback win that clinched the dual for the Thunderbirds.
 
Eszter Zador provided the lone point for the Vikings in the dual despite being the only Viking to lose her first-set tiebreaker. Zador lost the first-set tiebreaker to Tanti, 7-3, to fall behind early in their match at line two. Zador had comeback from a 5-2 deficit to force the first-set tiebreaker, however, and rode that momentum to a 6-1 win in the second set.
 
Zador had a tougher go of things in the third set, as Tanti made the first break to go up 3-1. Zador broke back right away, though, and then broke for a lead at 4-3 before serving out the match a few games later, 6-7 (3), 6-1, 6-4.
 
Alli Valk nearly mounted another comeback for the Vikings at line three, as she was 5-2 and a set down against Tobrand before winning four straight games to go up 6-5. Valk was serving to send her match to a third set, but Tobrand broke her to send the second set to a tiebreaker, and then won four of the last five points of the tiebreaker to finish off a 6-2, 7-6 (4) win.
 
The Vikings have a week off before heading out on the road for a pair of matches against Idaho and Eastern Washington. The Vikings play Idaho in Moscow, Idaho, on April 6, before heading to Cheney, Wash., for their match against the Eagles on April 8.

Southern Utah University 6, Portland State 1
03/25/18 at Vancouver, Wash. (Club Green Meadows) 

Singles competition

1. NASSIK, Ghita (SUU) def. PERI, Siena (PSU) 6-7 (7-9), 7-6 (12-10), 1-0 (10-6)

2. ZADOR, Eszter (PSU) def. TANTI, Zoe (SUU) 6-7 (3-7), 6-1, 6-4

3. TOBRAND, Eira (SUU) def. VALK, Alli (PSU) 6-2, 7-6 (7-4)

4. SAGIAO, Charity (SUU) def. UPENIECE, Gerda (PSU) 6-2, 6-1

5. COZZI, Daniela (SUU) def. REES, Taylor (PSU) 6-7 (5-7), 6-4, 7-5

6. LOWRANCE, Mikala (SUU) def. KNECHT, Ashley (PSU) 6-3, 6-0

 

Doubles competition

1. PERI, Siena/ZADOR, Eszter (PSU) vs. NASSIK, Ghita/LOWRANCE, Mikala (SUU) 5-4, unfinished

2. TOBRAND, Eira/TANTI, Zoe (SUU) def. VALK, Alli/UPENIECE, Gerda (PSU) 6-4

3. MARTIN LOZANO, Laura/COZZI, Daniela (SUU) def. REES, Taylor/KNECHT, Ashley (PSU) 7-5

 

Match Notes

Southern Utah University 8-6, 1-2 BSC

Portland State 0-12, 0-8 BSC

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