Final Road Trip of Season Gives Vikings Chance to Keep Improving

The final road trip of the season has arrived for the Portland State women's tennis team, which is looking to win back-to-back matches for the first time since April 2017 when they take on Dixie State and Southern Utah on the road this weekend. The Dixie State match begins at 9:00 a.m. on Saturday and the Southern Utah match will be at the same time on Sunday.

The Vikings (3-9/2-7 BSC) won at home last week against Lewis & Clark, the second 7-0 sweep of the season for Portland State. There has been plenty of improvement for the Vikings, who are playing their best tennis entering the final stretch of the season. After losing the first five matches of the year, Portland State is 3-4 in the previous seven matches.

Coach Jay Sterling has been impressed with his team's progress this season, including several standout performers in the previous month. Alli Valk has won three of her last four matches and is 5-2 since moving to the No. 5 position in the lineup. It has also been a great stretch for Eszter Zador, who has won four of her previous six matches. She also had a match she nearly clinched go unfinished against UTEP.

Nina Nikitovic and Lotti Meszaros have each won four of their previous seven matches as well, setting the Vikings up for a successful finish to the year. Jacinta Milenkoski continues to welcome the challenge of playing No. 1, and was rewarded with a big 6-1, 6-1 win last week. Taylor Rees also returned to the lineup with a win.

Unfortunately, the run of play comes slightly too late, as the Vikings have officially been eliminated from Big Sky Tournament contention.

Still, there is plenty to play for down the stretch. After a 2018 season where the Vikings finished 0-16, they have made significant improvements. Dixie State presents a chance to start a winning streak and reach the highest win total since a 4-12 campaign in 2017. The next day they take on conference opponent Southern Utah. They will finish the season at home against Sacramento State on Apr. 20.

The Thunderbirds and Hornets are in fifth and sixth place in the Big Sky standings and are trying to hold on to postseason positions. The Vikings could shake up the postseason picture with an upset of one or both of the teams. But for now, the focus is on the final non-conference game and starting a winning streak against Dixie State.

ALL-TIME SERIES VS. DIXIE STATE

This is the first-ever meeting between the two schools.

SCOUTING DIXIE STATE (10-3)

-The Trailblazers are a D-II program and have put together a very impressive season. They are currently 10-3, 2-1 in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference.
-Dixie State has played against two Big Sky teams (Weber State and Southern Utah) already this season, although they were both exhibitions. They lost both and have another exhibition against Idaho State the day before they meet Portland State.
-Kyra Harames and Megan Lynch have been the best singles players for the Trailblazers, going 10-2 each. They also have a pair of doubles teams that are 9-4 at No. 1 and No. 2.

ALL-TIME SERIES VS. SOUTHERN UTAH

Portland State leads the all-time series 4-2. Southern Utah won the last meeting between the two teams, played in Portland, 6-1 on March 25, 2018. The Vikings are 1-2 in matches played in Cedar City.

SCOUTING SOUTHERN UTAH (11-7/4-2 BSC)

-The Thunderbirds are on a two-match losing streak, falling to Weber State and Northern Arizona. They lost both matches 6-1 after starting the Big Sky season 4-0. Still, they are hanging onto a postseason position, currently in sixth place, a game and a half ahead of Montana.
-Jessica Stefan has the eighth-best winning percentage in the Big Sky. She is 13-4, 5-1 BSC this year while playing mostly at No. 5 and 6. Daniella Cozzi has the second most wins on the team at 12-5.
-The Thunderbirds have put 16 different doubles teams on the court. Their best pairing has been Cozzi and Ghita Nassik, who are 8-2 together and 3-2 in Big Sky play.

VALK THE VALK, TALK THE TALK

Alli Valk has been on a great run of play lately. She is on a two-match winning streak currently and has won three of her last four. She won 6-3, 6-0 against Lewis & Clark (4/6) to continue her impressive run.

She had a very impressive spring break trip (3/26-31) that saw her go 2-1 in both singles and doubles matches. She swept both against Northern Colorado, winning her singles match 7-5, 2-6, 1-0 (3) and doubles 6-0 with Eszter Zador.

She finished the weekend with wins against UTEP, again pairing with Zador for 6-3 doubles win. Then in singles, she won 6-4, 6-1 at No. 5. Valk has excelled since moving to the No. 5 spot in the lineup, going 5-2 overall at that spot. Valk/Zador is also the winningest doubles team for Portland State this year with a 3-6 overall record.

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 (15) and winning percentage (.555) 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 tied for eighth with 20 career wins. In doubles, she needs just two 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.

E.Z. DOES IT

A hot start to the season for junior Eszter Zador has set the pace for one of the top returners from a year ago. She is 7-3/5-3 BSC on the year while playing between No. 3 and 4. Her six wins are the most 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 recently cracked the top 10 and is currently 6th in school history with six career wins at No. 4.

Zador met the minimum match requirement to qualify for the program record in winning percentage with her 20th singles match. She currently is tied for third place in PSU history with a .560 winning percentage.

She is also close to breaking into the top 20 in Portland State history for total singles wins, needing just two more this year. Zador is tied for ninth in program history with nine Big Sky singles wins.

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 has seen time playing at the top spot this spring. She claimed the individual title at the PNW Open by winning the first three matches of her Viking career.

She won her first dual as a Viking against Lewis-Clark State (3/9/19). She won her first career Big Sky Conference match against Eastern Washington (3/17/19) with a two-set win at No. 2. She is 4-8 on the year in singles and 3-7 in doubles matches.

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 and is off to a good start in the spring. Nikitovic is 4-5 on the season.

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.

She made her spring debut against Idaho State (3/1/19) after missing the first matches of the season because of injury. She played No. 1 and won her first dual as a Viking against Lewis-Clark State (3/9/19). She is currently 3-6 at No. 1 and 3-5 in doubles.

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Players Mentioned

Taylor Rees: Senior; 3L

Alli Valk: Junior; 1L

Eszter Zador: Junior; 1L

Jacinta Milenkoski: Freshman; HS

Nina Nikitovic: Sophomore; TR

Lotti Meszaros: Sophomore; TR

Players Mentioned

Taylor Rees
: Senior; 3L

Alli Valk
: Junior; 1L

Eszter Zador
: Junior; 1L

Jacinta Milenkoski
: Freshman; HS

Nina Nikitovic
: Sophomore; TR

Lotti Meszaros
: Sophomore; TR