BEAVERTON, Ore. – The Portland State women's tennis team fought back from a 3-1 deficit to make things interesting against Colorado on Friday before eventually falling 4-3 to the Buffs at the Tualatin Hills Babette Horenstein Tennis Center.
The Vikings dropped to 4-4 on the season while CU improved to 2-3 overall.
The Vikings have suffered three one-point losses this season, but plan to use them as fuel moving forward as they prepare for conference play next weekend.
"The loss today would only be found in the final score (3-4)," Assistant Coach
Josiah Petersen said. "The girls gained confidence, learned new styles and strategies, earned respect and fought with an enormous amount of pride in themselves and their teammates. It's always hard to lose a close match, but the response from the team is far from that of being discouraged."
No matter the match's outcome, the Vikings continue to prove their dominance in doubles action. Thanks to an easy 6-1 win at No. 1 by
Nika Beukers and
Capu Sanoner followed by a gutsy 7-6 (6) victory from Mariajose Hernandez Coronado and
Maddie Egan on court three the Vikings were able to secure the opening point.
The Buffs clinched matches at No.2, No. 4 and No.3 to open singles play. With her team trailing 3-1, Egan shifted the momentum back to the Vikings side with a 6-3, 6-4 in the sixth position. Sanoner followed, continuing her hot streak at No. 1 with a 7-5, 6-3 victory to tie things up.
Knotted at three, the match came down to a back-and-forth battle on court five. After clawing her way to a 7-5 first-set win, Hernandez Coronado was unable to stop Ky Ecton, dropping the final match of the day 7-5, 0-6, 1-6.
FULL BOX SCORE HERE
Now, the Vikings will focus on Big Sky competition.
"This was a great way to finish off our non-conference schedule," Head Coach
Kyle Russell said. "I'm really impressed with the effort we showed today. Everybody took some lessons that will benefit us the rest of the season. We're excited to start Big Sky play!"
Portland State will take on Idaho State in their Big Sky opener next Friday (Feb. 25) at 1 p.m. in Pocatello, Idaho.
