Larry Lawson

The Vikings went 5-5 to close the season following the appointment of Alli Valk as team captain.

Women's Tennis 6/4/2019 11:46:00 AM John Wykoff

Valk's Captaincy Key to Viking Turnaround in 2019

Junior Alli Valk was appointed captain of the Viking women's tennis team at mid-season this year. That appointment proved to be a very big deal.

It contributed to a turnaround that saw the team win five of its last 10 matches, including a win over perennial Big Sky powerhouse Sacramento State.

Valk's appointment was the first time in two or three years that women's tennis coach Jay Sterling had given someone that responsibility.

"Being a captain is something that's earned through success and leadership. I'm not going to appoint a captain just for the sake of appointing a captain. Strong leadership has to come from the team and we haven't had a team captain because no one has been willing to step into that role," said Sterling. "Becoming team captain is a risk. You're held to a higher standard and you have to balance leadership with being a teammate."

Sterling and Valk agree that in mid-March, the Vikings were in the middle of a difficult season, having lost five matches in a row.

"We were in the middle of a challenging season this year and we needed to decide what direction we'd be going. Would we commit to a championship culture or would we continue with a country club culture?" said Sterling. It was Valk's second year with the program (as a freshman, she played for San Diego State) and, along with Sterling, she wasn't satisfied with the team's direction.

"Early this season, we had a small returning team. Almost half were new. We needed to develop a culture and figure out a direction for the program. We needed someone to step up," said Valk.

Mid-season, Sterling called a team meeting. "We had a team meeting and there were three days of introspection. Alli was the first one to come to me and say that the culture wasn't working for her," Sterling said. "It's really refreshing to have someone sitting there, wanting to change things and wanting to get on board with our vision of the program. That was the day she earned her captainship."

Sterling recommended player by player interviews for Valk in her new role and she discovered that her teammates felt much the same way she did.

"About mid-season, we were at a crossroads and everyone wanted something to change. My role would not have been possible without everyone else being ready," she said. "It was a big learning curve for me. I've never been a captain before…but one of the reasons I came here was that I wanted to play a leadership role in a growing program."

The biggest difference in the team culture in the following weeks revolved around the word "team". It was switching the emphasis from individual to team success. "We wanted to succeed as a group," she said.

What followed were wins over Lewis-Clark State, Northern Colorado, Lewis and Clark, Dixie State and Sacramento State, to end the season.

Valk is from Vancouver, BC, and almost didn't end up playing for Portland State.

She started playing tennis at age 10 mostly because her mother wanted her to try the sport, she remembers. She'd tried hockey, track and field and volleyball earlier, but chose tennis "because of how mentally tough you had to be to succeed and because how hard you work directly correlates to the success you see."

Valk spent the first four years of her life in Pittsburgh and Chicago, two stops in the 10 year career by her dad Garry Valk as a successful left winger for several National Hockey League teams.

Her mother Tanya Valk, also an athlete who ran track and played basketball, was from Vancouver, so the family moved there following Garry Valk's retirement.

From an early age, Alli wanted to come to the US, but discovered that Canadian tennis players didn't draw attention from American college coaches. So, at the age of 15, she began to travel, playing American tournaments, many in the Pacific Northwest, including the Portland area. She began attending the Self Design Learning Community in Vancouver, a school especially for athletes and others whose schedules don't fit the time structure of regular high schools.

In Canada, she won the U16 and U18 Provincial Championships in British Columbia, finished in the top 10 at the U18 Canadian Junior Nationals and won the ITF titles at the Vancouver and Puerto Rico G5's. She finished her junior career in the top three in British Columbia and the top 20 in Canada.

Those accomplishments plus her appearance in Pacific Northwest tournaments brought her to the attention of Sterling.

"I recruited her, but she chose San Diego State. I think she liked the idea of the beach and all that sunshine," he said.

And indeed, that was the southern California school's draw. "I had a number of schools contact me, but my focus always was on schools in California. When San Diego State contacted me, I really didn't consider anything else. I loved the sun. I loved the location. It was very appealing from the outside."

But, to paraphrase an old commercial jingle, you can take the girl out of the Northwest, but you can't take the Northwest out of the girl.

After a year with the Aztecs, Sterling said, "she discovered that being a student athlete requires a 70 hour week if done correctly and there's not much time for the beach."

Also, "I missed the green of the northwest and, my family had to fly to San Diego to see me play. It's a lot easier for them to come watch me play here. They've been to all my home matches," added Valk.

Sterling was delighted to have her back.

"She's really driven. She's impressive on all points...her tennis, personality, academics, as a teammate…it's all impressive."

Valk plays at the number four or five lines in singles, which she prefers a little over doubles.

She has a strong forehand "and she's been patient in strengthening her overall game and focusing on her strengths. It takes a special person to absorb a loss here and there in order to work on strengthening your overall game. A lot of players, when things start to go wrong, revert to their old style of play," he said.

And, Valk is carrying a 4.0 in her new major, accounting. "I've found what I love and that makes it a lot easier. She's been on the President's list every term and was chosen from long list of applicants for a prestigious internship this coming summer with Ernst and Young, a "big four" accounting firm. She'll be at home, working in the Vancouver office.

As to next season, both Valk and Sterling are optimistic.

Valk's goal is to have the Vikings make the Big Sky Tournament next season, and under her leadership Sterling thinks that could well happen. It all depends on the new culture.

Part of the difference the right culture can make, he explained, is a year-round commitment to tennis.

"We had struggled with injuries for a couple of years, to some extent because some of our players didn't work to keep up during the off-season. When they got back into playing a lot of tennis, there were injuries. Now, we're only looking to bring in people who'll fit into this culture. It's up to the team to see what they do in the off-season. If they do what they've committee to do, and with Alli as their captain, there's no doubt that they can achieve their goals, and be back at the conference championships next season."

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Players Mentioned

Alli Valk: Senior

Players Mentioned

Alli Valk
: Senior