Luck has not been on the side of the Portland State women's tennis team this season. For the fifth time in seven matches the Vikings were short-handed, and they couldn't overcome injuries in a 6-1 loss to Eastern Washington.

The Vikings have routinely been forced to play up lines this season as nagging injuries have cause several different players to miss time. On Sunday, two different players were out and the lineup shifted as a result.

Lotti Meszaros picked up the lone win of the day in an inspired match at No. 2. Meszaros, who picked up her first win at PSU last weekend, recorded another first against the Eagles. Her two-set victory was the first conference win of her Viking career.

Meszaros trailed early in the first set but bounced back to force a tiebreaker. Once there, Meszaros outlasted Rylee Braeden 7-4 to go up a set. The momentum from the comeback led to an easy 6-1 win in the second set. She is now on a two-match winning streak and is 2-5 on the season.

"Lotti was kind of up and down in that first set but fought all the way back and was able to recover and really do a great job in the tiebreaker," head coach Jay Sterling said. "She closed it out and was able to roll in that second set. She has two matches in a row now where she is playing better and getting wins and that is great for the confidence."

The Vikings hung tough with the Eagles early, particularly in doubles. After taking early leads on all three courts, Eastern bounced back to win at No. 1 and 2 to clinch the point. The Vikings team of Ashley Knecht and Gerda Upeniece had a 5-4 lead and the serve when the point was clinched.

The Vikings had some good battles in singles as well. Eszter Zador, who slid up in the lineup to play No. 3 for the first time this year, fell in a three-setter. Zador won 7-5 in the first set, but Zoey Nelson won 6-4, 6-2 in the next two sets for a comeback win.

"Eszter had a great first two sets, they were battling back and forth," Sterling said. "It was just small margins there, but she fought really hard."

Alli Valk played at No. 4 and lost a tight match. She fell 6-4, 7-6 and pushed the tiebreaker in the second set all the way to a 9-7 score, fighting hard until the very end. Valk, and the entire Viking team, didn't show any signs of quit all day.

"Alli's second set was a lot like Lotti's where if she could have taken that tiebreaker then she would win that match," Sterling said. "You never know, but she had a good plan going and gave herself two set points but just didn't make first serves and the other girl stepped in to her credit and took advantage."

Eastern Washington also picked up straight-set wins at No. 1, 5 and 6 en route to the 6-1 victory, which improves them to 4-1 in the Big Sky and 7-7 overall. The Vikings, meanwhile, are 1-6 on the year and 0-5 in Big Sky play.

"Without our full lineup again they fought really well," Sterling said. "This is more like a team that I am used to seeing from the Vikings, one that competes really hard and fights hard and they gave everybody here watching a show, which is what I like to see."

MATCH NOTES: The Vikings fall to 6-19 all-time against Eastern Washington … Lotti Meszaros won the first Big Sky match of her career and is now 2-2 while playing at No. 2.