The Portland State women's tennis team opened its Big Sky season on Saturday morning nearly a month removed from seeing any live match play. Despite that, combined with the absence of Jacinta Milenkoski, the Vikings fought hard until the very end in a 5-2 loss to Montana State.

After a match against Washington was cancelled because the Huskies were chosen to host an ITA event and a match against Portland also went by the wayside because of weather last weekend, the Vikings were a bit of a mystery heading into conference play. While there were some signs that they don't have a lot of match play under their belts, they fought as hard as they could, a fact that made coach Jay Sterling happy.

"Anybody who was out here watching saw that the Portland State women's tennis program always fights," Sterling said. "We always have, no matter what we're up against. We battled today, every player left everything they had out on the tennis courts and as a coach that is all you can ask for."

The Vikings picked up wins at No. 4 and No. 5. They also forced a third set in two other matches and nearly won the doubles point in an opening match that showed some encouraging signs for the season to come.

Eszter Zador, who herself is returning from injury, fought through pain to win at No. 4. The junior from Hungary went to a tiebreaker in the first set. She brought the intensity, winning it 7-1 to go up a set.

The momentum from the tiebreaker pushed her through the second set, which she won 6-2 to start her season 1-0.

The other Viking to win was Taylor Rees, who showed the toughness and resilience that Sterling wants to see from his seniors. She took the opening set 6-4 but fell in the second set 4-6. In the third, she fell behind 4-1. Montana State had already clinched the match, but there was no quit in Rees.

She changed up her play, taking a less aggressive approach and instead putting more balls into play. It paid off, as she went on to win six of the last seven games in a 6-4, 4-6, 7-5 victory.

"That's what I expect from Taylor and my seniors, to be a leader and lead by example and fight," Sterling said. "I want her to empty the tank and leave everything out there and she did a really good job."

Lotti Meszaros and Alli Valk each lost in three sets. They had high points, but a lack of match fitness may have hampered them in the losses. Meszaros fell 4-6, 7-6 (5), 0-6 at No. 1. Valk, playing No. 3, dropped her match 3-6, 6-3, 0-6.

The two players both fought hard in the second set to level up their matches, but ran out of gas down the stretch.

"Match fitness was a difference in their second sets," Sterling said. "Lotti had a chance to finish out the second set earlier and didn't, but really fought hard in that tiebreaker but just expended a lot of energy. The match fitness will come, but that's what you get when you haven't played. Nothing duplicates match play like match play."

The Vikings picked up a win at No. 3 doubles. Gerda Upeniece and Lotti Meszaros played well together, winning 6-3 on court three. The Bobcats, however, won the match on court one at nearly the exact same time, setting up a showdown for the doubles points.

The No. 2 teams were practically inseparable, needing a tiebreaker to decide a winner. Even in the tiebreaker, seven points weren't enough for the two teams as they stayed within a point of each other. Eszter Zador and Alli Valk had one match point, but they couldn't put it away. The Bobcats answered by winning the next two points to win the set tiebreaker 10-8 and the set 7-6.

The rust has been busted off, now the Vikings can start to get into a groove with consistent match play. They return to action tomorrow against Montana, another match that will have a 10:00 a.m. start time at Vancouver Tennis Center.

"This team is going to get better with every match that they play," Sterling said. "We are just a little bit lacking on the match stuff and nothing can replace that. The most exciting thing is to just get to play again. This team loves to compete. They fight and never give up, so we get to do that again tomorrow and we will try to go out and focus on the process to do whatever we need to do to bring a W home to the Viks."