Women's Tennis 5/3/2019 9:08:00 AM Jackson Wagner

Zador Earns All-Big Sky Second Team Honors

A stellar season from Portland State junior Eszter Zador has earned her a place on the All-Big Sky Second Team. Zador finished the 2019 season with a 10-3 record in singles, including a 7-3 mark in Big Sky play. She is the first Viking since Tracy Dong in 2015 to earn make it to the second team and first player since 2016 to be honored in the Big Sky's postseason awards.

In an up-and-down season overall for the Vikings, Zador was the most consistent presence. She won her final four matches of the season and held down the middle of the lineup well, splitting her time between courts three and four. Zador went 8-2 while playing at No. 4, the fifth most wins in a single single for Portland State.

"I'm really proud of Eszter and I'm happy for her because she did have a great and dominant season," head coach Jay Sterling said. "She didn't have the best fall, but she worked through her doubts and her fears and figured out ways to win. I'm super happy for her because she deserves it. She put in the work and was brave enough to go for it, and she had a great season."

Zador missed a couple of matches, but certainly made the most of her outings. She finished with a winning percentage of .769, the second best single season in Viking history. She also won 80 percent of her games at No. 4, the second best season percentage at that line.

The native of Budapest, Hungary dominated her opponents all season long, winning eight of her 10 matches in straight sets. She received her toughest wins in the final two matches of the year, surging towards the ends of the matches in three-set wins.

Portland State's five wins as a team this season also had something in common; Zador winning her singles match. She also came just short of winning her 11th match of the season against UTEP, when the dual was clinched as Zador held a lead in the second set.

All three of her losses came against the cream of the crop as well. Zador fell to opponent's from Big Sky champs Northern Arizona as well as Weber State and Eastern Washington, teams that tied for second in the regular season.

Zador isn't the most animated player on the courts, but she certainly was one of the most effective. Sterling said that she may fly under the radar sometimes because of her style of play, but that she is more than deserving of this honor.

"She just does it with a quiet confidence. She has so much variety, and I don't think people necessarily give her enough respect for all the different ways she can win and how smart she is," Sterling said. "She's really a talented person, but she goes about it quietly and in a professional way. It is special the way she does it because she exudes grace, class and professionalism and as a program that is something that the whole team is proud of her for."

Next season, Zador will have a chance to cement her legacy as one of the best players in program history. She currently has 17 career wins, three away from cracking the top 10, and the third-best career winning percentage (.607).

2019 Big Sky Women's Tennis All-Conference Team

First Team Singles
*%Chiara Tomasetti, Northern Arizona
*#Marianna Petrei, Idaho
*^Maria Tavares, Idaho
Julia Ronney, Montana
Madeline Lamoreaux, Eastern Washington
Jessica Stefan, Southern Utah
*Unanimous All-Big Sky First Team Singles Selection
#Four-time All-Big Sky First Team Singles Selection
%Three-time All-Big Sky First Team Singles Selection
^Two-time All-Big Sky First Team Singles Selection

Second Team Singles
Emilie Haakansson, Northern Arizona
Eszter Zador, Portland State
Jenna Dorian, Sacramento State
Laura Spataro, Idaho
Laura Mary, Montana State
Zoey Nelson, Eastern Washington
Marta Magalhaes, Idaho

Honorable Mention Singles
Megan Poe, Idaho State
Cali Fuller, Weber State
Hanneke Lodewijks, Northern Arizona
Adrianna Sosnowska, Northern Arizona
Jayden Nielsen, Sacramento State
Yuuna Ukita, Weber State

First Team Doubles
Madeline Lamoreaux/Rylee Braeden, Eastern Washington
^Marianna Petrei/Maria Tavares, Idaho
^Hanneke Lodewijks/Ellie Millard, Northern Arizona
^Two-time All-Big Sky First Team Doubles Selection

Second Team Doubles
Zoey Nelson/Louise Waite, Eastern Washington
Melissa Coburn/Madison Fenske, Idaho State
Sara Parker/Pei-Hsuan Kuo, Weber State

Honorable Mention Doubles
Laura Mary/Linnea Fristam, Montana State
Megan Lombardi/Yuuna Ukita, Weber State
Julia Ronney/Bianca Bostrom, Montana

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Players Mentioned

Eszter Zador: Junior; 1L

Players Mentioned

Eszter Zador
: Junior; 1L