Women's Tennis 9/30/2018 10:03:00 PM Jackson Wagner

Vikings Tennis Sweeps PNW Grass Court Championships

The thought of grass courts evokes something special in tennis players and fans. The grass, so famously played on during Wimbledon inside the All England Club, holds almost a sacred place in tennis history. It signifies the class of the game, bringing back memories of Martina Navratilova, Serena Williams and Chris Evert, all of whom have won double-digit titles Wimbledon titles.

The grass courts will now remind the Portland State women's tennis team of championships as well, as the Vikings swept the awards at the PNW Grass Court Championships. Lotti Meszaros brought home the singles title while Jacinta Milenkoski and Taylor Rees claimed the doubles championship in the unique event.

Coach Jay Sterling kept the event a surprise for his team until the week of, knowing how rare it is to play on grass courts in the United States. While England still maintains grass courts and Wimbledon is famous for them, the upkeep required has forced them nearly into extinction in the states. But the grass provides a unique challenge. Sterling said the motto of the weekend was trying to learn to "be comfortable with being uncomfortable."

Lotti Meszaros, a transfer playing in her first season at Portland State, claimed the singles title against fellow Vikings newcomer Jacinta Milenkoski in a epic championship match. Milenkoski claimed the opening set in a tiebreak, but Meszaros bounced back with a 7-5 win in the second set before taking the third set tiebreaker 10-2.

She said that it was a nerve-wracking experience to play on grass, but she was able to take advantage of the surface. She said that her slice was working very well all weekend and that she used it more as she became comfortable with the grass.

"I can say that I'm proud of myself because this is my first tournament on grass and I was really excited and nervous at the same time because I had no idea how to play on grass but it turned out great," Meszaros said.

It was one of many battles the Vikings had against teammates and an example of the attitude that Sterling wants his team to play with on the court.

"I loved seeing the fierceness and the competitiveness of the finals. Everybody that was there watching saw two girls who really wanted to win and were giving it everything they had," Sterling said. "It was competitive tennis, and then it was great to see at the end of the day that they could leave it on the court and be friends and have a ton of respect for each other."

Meszaros played her way past Taylor Rees in the first match 6-2, 6-0 before defeating Eszter Zador 6-2, 6-1 in the semifinal match to set up the championship. Milenkoski took down Ashley Knecht 6-1, 6-4 and Alli Valk 6-3, 7-6 to get to the final.

On the doubles side, a round-robin format was played between four teams, giving each team a guarantee of three matches. The teams played just a single set, similar to the NCAA format in the spring season. Valk/Upeniece swept through the round robin stage, winning tightly contested matches 7-5, 6-4 and 7-5.

Milenkoski/Rees also qualified for the final, winning matches 6-1 and 6-2 but losing against Valk/Upniece 6-4. It set up the final match, which Milenkoski/Rees would go on to dominate 6-0 to get revenge on their teammates and claim the title.

The freshman from Australia made the most of her first career tournament, winning the doubles and reaching the finals of the singles draw.

"I've only played on grass a couple of times and even these courts were very different from the ones back home," Milenkoski said. "Playing with Taylor was so much fun and the whole experience was great."

As for the challenges of the grass?

"A lot of bad bounces," she said with a laugh.

Her partner Taylor Rees is a senior from Portland that is now in her fourth year for the program. She noted how unique the experience was to play hard-fought matches against teammates on the court and then be able to go right back to being friendly off of it.

"It was a really cool environment," Rees said. "We were all really competitive on the court but off of it we were able to hang out."

The fall season will continue for the Vikings next weekend as they return to hard courts and head to the Long Beach Fall Invitational.

Singles Draw
QF
Meszaros def. Rees 6-2, 6-0
Zador def. Upeniece 6-7, 7-5, 1-0
Milenkoski def. Knecht 6-1, 6-4
Valk advances

SF
Meszaros def. Zador 6-2, 6-1
Milenkoski def. Valk 6-3, 7-6

Final
Meszaros def. Milenkoski 6-7 (5), 7-5, 10-2

Consolation Bracket
Rees def. Upeniece 6-2, 6-3

Doubles Round Robin
Round 1
Milenkoski/Rees def. Meszaros/Anderson 6-1
Valk/Upeniece def Zador/Knecht 7-5

Round 2
Valk/Upeniece def. Milenkoski/Rees 6-4
Zador/Knecht def. Meszaros/Anderson 6-1

Round 3
Valk/Upeniece def. Meszaros/Anderson 7-5
Milenkoski/Rees def. Zador/Knecht 6-2

Finals
Milenkoski/Rees def. Valk/Upeniece 6-0

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Players Mentioned

Ashley Knecht: Senior; 3L

Taylor Rees: Senior; 3L

Alli Valk: Junior; 1L

Eszter Zador: Junior; 1L

Jacinta Milenkoski: Freshman; HS

Lotti Meszaros: Sophomore; TR

Players Mentioned

Ashley Knecht
: Senior; 3L

Taylor Rees
: Senior; 3L

Alli Valk
: Junior; 1L

Eszter Zador
: Junior; 1L

Jacinta Milenkoski
: Freshman; HS

Lotti Meszaros
: Sophomore; TR