EUGENE, Ore. – The Portland State women's tennis team claimed its first win of the season on Saturday, beating Montana in a non-conference, neutral site contest 4-2 at the Student Tennis Center.
The win was the Vikings' first under Interim head coach Josiah Petersen as they improved to 1-1 on the year. Montana, who the Vikings will face later this season in a conference matchup in Missoula, fell to 0-2.
"I think everyone came out really great this weekend," Viking senior Nika Beukers said following the win. "The transition from the fall into spring is never easy, especially after losing one of our teammates [who was unable to return to the team this spring].
"Everyone was challenged to step up and fill a role that they hadn't expected, and I couldn't be more proud of the team's response. I think this weekend was a step in the right direction. I am excited to start my senior year and see what it's going to bring for us!"
Portland State opened the match with a pair of doubles wins to go up 1-0. Coming off a strong performance in the season opener yesterday, the No. 2 doubles pair, Scarlett Perkins and Hana Abdelhamid, defeated Piper Freeman and Kelsey Phillips 6-1 to move to 2-0 on the season. The Griz leveled the score with a 6-2 victory on the top court, but shortly after, Ayra Salim and Kasumi Hirayama notched their first victory as a pair, topping Monika Flzova and Olivia Moir 6-1 to give Portland State the lead heading into singles play.
Playing to a clinch, the Vikings needed three wins to secure the match. They got the first via opponent retirement on court one, as Beukers led Kelsey Phillips 2-0 before the match was called. Perkins then brought the Vikings within one win of a clinch, dominating Rosie Sterk 6-2, 6-0 at line four. However, the Griz fought back, rattling off back-to-back wins on courts six and two, which left things up to a pair of Viking freshmen, Abdelhamid and Hirayama. While Hirayama was mounting a comeback on court five, Abdelhamid finished the job for PSU at line three, topping Piper Freeman 6-4, 6-4 to secure the Vikings' first win of the year at 4-2.
Portland State will return to action next weekend when they host their home opener against Linfield on Saturday, Jan. 25, at 2:00 p.m. at the Tualatin Hills Tennis Center.
