For most college students, spring break is a time to get away from the hard work of the school year and make incredible memories. The Portland State women's tennis team may not have received a break from hard work, but that work certainly gave them a sweet memory Tuesday morning.

The Vikings (2-7/1-6 BSC) played against Northern Colorado in Greeley and picked up the first Big Sky win of the season, knocking off the Bears 5-2. It is a big win for the Vikings program, and it comes at elevation on the road.

The win has been a long time coming for a Viking team that has shown improvement over the past few weeks but has struggled to get to full health. They competed well with two of the top teams in the conference over the past two weeks. After that, coach Jay Sterling said there were wins to be had in the coming matches. And while this may not have been the perfect match, he didn't have to wait long for a win.

"We won ugly today, but that's what is exciting, the fact that we didn't put it all together but we still found a way to win," Sterling said. "Obviously we had some good matches, Eszter won easy, but for everyone else it was a grind. We finally put together problem solving and figuring out a way to win with what we've got that day."

Portland State took the doubles point and won four singles matches its way to the 5-2 win. It is the first Big Sky win for the Vikings since April 15, 2017 and snaps a 17-match Big Sky losing streak.

The two teams battled, but Portland State showed that the defeats it has suffered this year also led to some learning. The Vikings won two three-set singles matches and outlasted Northern Colorado in a crucial tiebreaker at No. 1 doubles, swinging the match heavily in PSU's favor.

Eszter Zador and Alli Valk won the first match of the day for Portland State, taking an easy 6-1 win at No. 2 doubles. Northern Colorado fought back, winning at No. 3 to tie it up. The doubles point came down to No. 1, where freshman Jacinta Milenkoski and Nina Nikitovic won a crucial tiebreak 7-4.

Nikitovic, who missed the Eastern Washington and Idaho matches, returned from injury to make a big impact on the doubles. In singles, she played at No. 3, where she was defeated 6-2, 6-1 for the first point, tying the match up at 1-all.

Portland State went on a run after that to clinch the dual. At No. 1, Milenkoski won an impressive match against Anna Battersby. She won 6-0, 6-4 for her first career Big Sky victory and the second of her Viking career.

Eszter Zador followed that up with another win, her third in the past four matches, at No. 4. Zador won a close opening set 6-4 before sealing the point with a 6-1 win in the second set. She is now 6-2 overall and 5-2 in Big Sky play. Zador moved up to sixth in Viking history with her 11th career conference win.

The Vikings then clinched the match at No. 2, where Lotti Meszaros won a three-set thriller. Meszaros dropped the opening set 5-7 to Raffa Mora. In the second set, Meszaros fell behind 1-4 in the second set, but didn't get discouraged.

"Something happened in my mind and I thought, 'I'm not going to lose. I want to win and I'm going to win.' I came back and then in the third set I knew I could win," Meszaros said.

She fought her way back in that set, taking it 7-5 and then in the third and final set, Meszaros won another close contest 6-4, clinching the dual with Portland State's fourth point and breaking the conference losing streak.

"When we clinched I was just the happiest person and I couldn't believe it," Zador said. "It was tough but everybody played well and we fought really hard because we knew that we could do it. It was such an amazing thing to be able to celebrate the win with the team."

Alli Valk gave the Vikings another point with a 7-5, 2-6, 1-0 (3) win at No. 5 before the Bears won a point back at No. 6. Still, the win breaks a streak for the Vikings and gives them motivation and momentum entering the final stretch of the season.

Valk, Meszaros and the entire Viking team showed a lot of resolution in the win today. Sterling said before the match he told his team that heart was going to be the determining factor for them, a fact that ended up being true.

"Instead of getting angry and upset and showing poor body language, we showed fearlessness," Sterling said. "We tried to show confidence as much as we could and we held that attitude for most of the match. Especially Lotti, the match she won today I don't think she would have won three weeks ago. She won that match by being tough."

Sterling has been telling his team for weeks now that they have what it takes to start rattling off wins. Now, after tasting victory in a tough road environment, they are starting to see it for themselves.

"I feel like everybody now started to realize that if we fight and put everything together we can do this and we can win matches," Zador said. "It doesn't matter if it is on the road or at home, we know we can do it."

Portland State won't have much time to celebrate the big win, however. They will return to action on Saturday against Northern Arizona and finish off the spring break trip Sunday against UTEP.

MATCH NOTES: Portland State is now 4-8 all-time vs. Northern Colorado .... Eszter Zador is now tied for sixth in program history with 11 career Big Sky wins … Jacinta Milenkoski's win at No. 1 now gives the Vikings seven different players with at least one conference win this season.