Women’s first kill, overkill for the men

The Portland State women’s tennis team recorded its first win of the season against Southern Oregon on Friday, but could not keep up the momentum through the weekend as they went down fighting to Montana and Seattle. The men’s team, meanwhile, defeated city rival Lewis & Clark, 7–0, on Sunday.

The women entered Friday’s duel against Southern Oregon at the Stott Center with a 0–4 record in the 2010 campaign, but the Viks won all three doubles and five out of six singles matches against the Raiders to win the contest, 6–1.

“It was a really great win for us and the team really needed it,” said Jay Sterling, interim head coach. “We executed the things we worked on in practice. We took care of the little things during the game.”

On Saturday, the Viks went head to head against conference rival Montana at the Louisiana-Pacific Tennis Center in North Portland. Led by former Portland State head coach Steve Ascher, who is now in his second year as head of Montana’s program, the Grizzlies stifled the Vikings momentum and won the meeting 7–0.

“It was a tough match emotionally for the girls, as some of them were recruited by [Ascher],” Sterling said. “We had solid first-set performances, and lost most games by just a break. We need to work on staying competitive in the second sets.”

In their final game of the weekend on Sunday, the Vikings lost 0–7 to Seattle University at the Stott Center. At line three in the singles competition, sophomore Marti Pellicano managed to take her game to the third set but eventually lost 1–6, 7–6 (8–6), 1–6.

“I could have played better but I am happy that I stretched the game to three sets, and won the second set on a tie breaker,” Pellicano said.

Also at the Stott on Sunday, the men’s team extended its winning streak to two matches with a win over Lewis & Clark in a 7–0 whitewash. The men are now 4–5 this season and are placed third in the Big Sky Conference.

“We had a good game overall, and everyone kept up the pressure,” junior Sean Eberle said. “It’s good to stay focused against Division-III opponents, but now everyone is focused on the next big game against Northern Colorado.”

Sterling said he witnessed solid performance from his team.

“We can’t take anything for granted in these games. The team has been practicing like never before for the past three weeks, and the morale of the team has never been higher,” he said.

Women’s tennis scores

Fri
Portland State 6, Southern Oregon 1
Doubles:
1. Stocking/Dalkin (PSU) def. Thomas/Kiger (SOU) 8-3
2. Vidali/Gleason (PSU) def. Bostrom/Wilson (SOU) 8-4
3. Pellicano/McClaran (PSU) def. Morrow/Sauer (SOU) 9-7
Singles:
1. Allison Bostrom (SOU) def. Caitlin Stocking (PSU) 6-4, 6-2
2. Anya Dalkin (PSU) def. Lexi Thomas (SOU) 6-0, 6-1
3. Marti Pellicano (PSU) def. Liz Kiger (SOU) 6-0, 6-1
4. Tara Vadali (PSU) def. Addie Morrow (SOU) 6-1, 6-1
5. Kylea Gleason (PSU) def. Emma Wilson (SOU) 6-1, 6-0
6. Emily McClaran (PSU) def. Kayla Carrol (SOU) 6-4, 6-2

Sat
Montana 7, Portland State 0
Singles:
1. Amanda Bran (UM) def. Caitlin Stocking (PSU) 7-5, 6-2
2. Constance Alexander (UM) def. Anya Dalkin (PSU) 6-2, 6-3
3. Heather Davidson (UM) def. Marti Pellicano (PSU) 6-2, 6-4
4. Lauren Gibson (UM) def. Tara Vadali (PSU) 6-4, 6-1
5. Kayla Moyse (UM) def. Kylea Gleason (PSU) 6-4, 6-1
6. Cara Lehman (UM) def. Emily McClaran (PSU) 6-0, 6-0
Doubles:
1. Bran/Gibson (UM) def. Stocking/Dalkin (PSU) 8-5
2. Moyse/Alexander (UM) def. Gleason/Vadali (PSU) 8-4
3. Lehman/Davidson (UM) def. McClaran/Pellicano (PSU) 8-2

Sun
Seattle 7, Portland State 0
Doubles:
1. Stocking/Dalkin (PSU) def. Ohno/Mortera (SU): 8-6
2. Cheng/Schwab (SU) def. Vadali/Gleason (PSU): 8-4
3. Sugimoto/Mikaela Peterson (SU) def. Pellicano/McClaran (PSU): 8-4
Singles:
1. Katrina Schwab (SU) def. Caitlin Stocking (PSU) 6-3, 6-2
2. Ariel Ohno (SU) def. Anya Dalkin (PSU) 6-4, 6-2
3. Whitney Cheng (SU) def. Marti Pellicano (PSU) 6-1, 6-7 (6-8), 6-1
4. Steffanie Mortera (SU) def. Tara Vadali (PSU) 6-3, 6-0
5. Aya Sugimoto (SU) def. Kylea Gleason (PSU) 6-0, 6-1
6. Gina Bloemers (SU) def. Emily McClaran (PSU) 6-0, 6-0