Vikings Prepare for First Big Sky Road Matches

Portland State women's tennis hits the road this weekend, playing in its first duals away from home this season. The Vikings have a pair of matches against Idaho State and Weber State on consecutive days, where they will hope to break a three-match losing streak.

The Vikings had a challenging and difficult start to the season, playing without some key players and with little match experience compared to its opponents. Now as they head into the grind of Big Sky play, they will hope the lessons learned at home will help them in the first road trip of the season.

They aren't completely unfamiliar with playing away from home as they started the season over a month ago at the Beach Tennis Winter Invitational. The tournament gave them a first look at matches away from home, although the dual atmosphere is different compared to tournaments.

Portland State is coming off a 6-1 loss to crosstown rival Portland last weekend. The Vikings were two players down in that match, forcing a change in the lineup that forced some players to move up.

In addition to Jacinta Milenkoski, who is still recovering from injury, they were also missing Eszter Zador, who had a performance for class. She has been the best player in the early season for PSU, winning both of her matches against Montana State and Montana in the opening weekend.

Last weekend gave one Viking a chance for a sweet victory. Portland transfer Nina Nikitovic faced off against her former school, winning 6-1, 6-3 at No. 2 to pick up her first career win as a Viking.

She nearly missed time to start the season because of injury, but looked to be close to 100 percent in the impressive win against Portland. Her improved play, matched with the return of Zador this weekend and more experience for the rest of the team, has the Vikings hoping to find its first win on the road.

SCOUTING IDAHO STATE

-The Bengals enter the weekend 3-4 overall and 0-1 in Big Sky play. ISU did not have a match last weekend, but lost 1-6 to Idaho in its last match out on Feb. 16.
-ISU is currently on a two-match losing streak, falling to a nationally ranked D-II school in Point Loma before the loss to Idaho.
-Alexandra Arkhipov is the only Bengal with a conference win this season, defeating Idaho's Anna Stefani 2-6, 7-6 (6), 1-0 (6). Melissa Coburn and Madison Fenske also won a doubles match against Idaho, but the Vandals claimed the point with wins at No. 1 and 2.
-Nine different players have seen time in singles competition this dual season. Angela Walker and Louise-Mare Botes are the only two players to compete in all seven matches for the Bengals.

ALL-TIME SERIES VS. IDAHO STATE

The Vikings trail in the all-time series 7-10. PSU has won four of the last six matches in the series, but Idaho State enters winning two consecutive. The Vikings last won in Pocatello in 2015.

SCOUTING WEBER STATE

-Weber State enters the match 6-4 overall and 0-1 in Big Sky play. They lost 2-5 to Idaho in their last match out on Feb. 17.
-The Wildcats have been very successful at the bottom of the lineup, going a combined 13-5 at lines five and six. They have a losing record at every other line.
-Megan Lombardi has been unbeatable for the Wildcats this season, winning all nine of her matches. She has won six of them at No. 5 and three at No. 6.
-Pei-Hsuan Kuo and Sara Parker have been a dominant doubles team, compiling a 7-1 record while playing at No. 2. They enter the weekend on a seven-match winning streak.

ALL-TIME SERIES VS. WEBER STATE

Portland State trails in the all-time series 3-15. The Wildcats have won four consecutive matches dating back to 2014. The Vikings have never won a match in Ogden, but they have come up one point short in each of the last three matches played there.

E.Z. DOES IT

A perfect opening weekend in singles from junior Eszter Zador has set the pace for one of the top returners from a year ago. She is 2-0 on the year while playing at No. 4, the most wins on the team.

Last season, the junior from Hungary finished 5-6 in the Big Sky while competing at the No. 2 line. She finished the fall with winning one singles match and three doubles.

Zador's five wins at No. 2 are tied for the eighth most in that spot in Portland State history. She is even higher in win percentage at No. 2 singles, where her .455 percentage is good for third all time.

She is also close to breaking into the top 20 in Portland State history for total singles wins, needing just five this year. Zador is also three Big Sky singles wins away from breaking into the top 10 in that category.

REES' PIECES

Taylor Rees has a chance to go down as one of the all-time best at Portland State. She is the career leader for both total wins (14) and winning percentage (.583) at No. 6 singles. In doubles, Rees is fifth all-time with 13 wins at No. 2. She is also sixth in winning percentage (.419) at No. 2 doubles.

This season, Rees could make a run at some all-time marks. She is currently 10th all-time in career winning percentage (.439) and just two wins away from making the top 10 in career wins. In doubles, she needs just three total wins to break into the top 10 total career wins. She is also tied for fourth in career Big Sky singles wins (15) and could possibly rise into the top three this season.

WHAT'S NEW?

This season, Portland State had three newcomers join that could each see a lot of playing time in 2019. Lotti Meszaros (Radford) and Nina Nikitovic (Portland) come to the Park Blocks by way of transfer.

Meszaros finished the fall season 6-7 in singles play and is now playing at the top spot in the spring. She claimed the individual title at the PNW Open by winning the first three matches of her Viking career. Nikitovic battled injury in the fall, but did combine with Meszaros to go 2-2 as a doubles team, including wins against competition from Portland and Big Sky rival Sacramento State. She is now playing No. 2 for the Vikings.

True freshman Jacinta Milenkoski also had an impressive debut in the fall. She reached the final of the PNW Open singles draw and finished the fall with a 5-6 record in singles play. Milenkoski also found success in the doubles competition with Taylor Rees, as the team finished the fall 2-4.

"They're awesome, they're amazing and that's why we brought them here. They are incredible people - they fit really well into our culture and our team - and they are great tennis players. We brought them here because they are going to help our program to be better, now we just need to keep them healthy."

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Players Mentioned

Taylor Rees: Senior; 3L

Eszter Zador: Junior; 1L

Jacinta Milenkoski: Freshman; HS

Nina Nikitovic: Sophomore; TR

Lotti Meszaros: Sophomore; TR

Players Mentioned

Taylor Rees
: Senior; 3L

Eszter Zador
: Junior; 1L

Jacinta Milenkoski
: Freshman; HS

Nina Nikitovic
: Sophomore; TR

Lotti Meszaros
: Sophomore; TR