BEAVERTON, Ore. – The Portland State women's tennis team capped its home slate on Saturday afternoon with a crucial conference victory over Sacramento State, beating the Hornets 5-2 on senior day at the Tualatin Hills Tennis Center. The Vikings improved to 7-8 overall and 2-2 in conference action, while the Hornets fell to 6-5 overall and 2-1 in Big Sky action.

Saturday's victory marked the Vikings' third win over the Hornets in program history. "We didn't say it out loud but I felt everyone was playing for our seniors today," Viking head coach Kyle Russell said.

The Vikings honored seniors Emily Rees, Masha Ponomareva and Nell Arendt after the win. Rees is in her fourth season with the Vikings, tallying 57 wins in her time at Portland State.  

"I'm so glad we could get a team win today for Emily," Russell said. She has meant so much to this program and so much to me as a coach. I owe her a huge debt of gratitude for everything she has given Portland State tennis."

The Vikings opened the day with a pair of victories in doubles action. After dropping the first match at the No. 2 spot, Capu Sanoner and Ponomareva responded with a 6-4 win at No. 1. Elizabeth Strongina and Nika Beukers battled to a 7-6 (4) win on court three to secure the point. Notching her 34th career doubles victory, Sanoner's win on Saturday made her the Vikings' all-time leader in individual doubles wins.  

Strongina came out hot in singles play, cruising to a 6-0, 6-1 win on court three. Beukers was the next Viking to pull out a win, doing so 6-3, 6-4 over Weronika Ejsmont on court four. It was Ponomareva who stepped up big for the Vikings, clinching the match with a 6-4, 6-3 victory on court one.

It was really awesome to clinch the match for us today," Ponomareva said. "I was able to enjoy myself on the court and play tennis the way I like to. Today was more about the team than about me. I wanted to see them smile and celebrate the win and I'm glad I got to do that.  It was the best gift I could receive for senior day."

Makoto Ohara put the icing on the cake for PSU, claiming a 4-6, 7-5, 2-0 (9) comeback victory at No. 6 to finish the day.

The Vikings will take next week off before returning to action against Hawaii on Wednesday, March 29 at 5:30 p.m. PT.