The Portland State women’s volleyball team had an outstanding season in 2012, taking home the Big Sky regular-season title. This month, they’ll say goodbye to two graduating seniors: outside hitter Megan Ellis and setter Dominika Kristinikova. Both players crossed borders to get to the Park Blocks—Ellis is from British Columbia, Kristinikova from Slovakia—but they found a home on the Viking squad over the last four years, establishing themselves as leaders on a deep and talented roster.
Since she was a teenager, PSU senior Bianca Martin has always loved competing in an oft-avoided sport: distance running. The Beaverton native’s track and field career began at the University of New Mexico, where she redshirted through her first year. Plagued by injuries and not fitting in well with the program, Martin left the Lobos after her second year and came home to Oregon, where she started running with a private club after enrolling at Portland State.
Tamia Hasan played behind upperclassmen in her freshman season last fall, but she has proven that she is ready for more in 2013. Hasan, who recently netted her first goal as a Viking during the nonconference spring season against the Seattle University Redhawks, is quickly figuring out her role on the team, and head coach Laura Schott expects her to become a solid contributor for the squad this year.
The Vikings softball squad watched their hopes of moving past the first round of the NCAA regional tournament collapse with a devastating 2-1 defeat at the hands of the University of Washington Huskies. The Vikings struggled at the plate against the Huskies’ starting pitcher and also had some difficulties defensively as they failed to advance in Seattle. The loss dropped Portland State into the consolation bracket for a meeting with the University of Minnesota, but the team fared even worse against the Gophers and fell 5-0, officially putting an end to the 2013 season.
Megan Govi is quick to give credit to her team’s effort in 2012–13, but the sophomore earned plenty of accolades on her own this season. Govi broke multiple school records as a member of the women’s tennis squad, including those for single-season wins and conference wins. She also won Big Sky Honorable Mention accolades for her performance throughout the season. Govi is an all-around athlete whose passion for fitness continues to drive her success on the court.
The Portland State softball team capped off its tremendous run this season by rolling through the competition at the inaugural Big Sky tournament over the weekend, sweeping all three games to capture the conference championship and earn an automatic bid for the NCAA regional tournament.
In their final game of the season last November, the Portland State volleyball team faced off against Idaho State University to decide the Big Sky regular-season title. The Vikings played their hearts out and beat the Bengals for the honor, but took a huge loss in the process as outside hitter Jaklyn Wheeler went down with an anterior cruciate ligament tear in her knee.
The Vikings softball team needed a sweep against the University of North Dakota in the last weekend of regular-season play to have a chance at the conference championship, and they did exactly that, outscoring their opponents 17-3 in three games on the road.
The Portland State softball team went 2-1 against California State University, Sacramento, over the weekend, including a win in the final game on Senior Day.
The Portland State women’s golf team made quite a run at the Big Sky Conference Championship but came up just short in Chandler, Ariz., as a late push by Northern Arizona University pushed the Lumberjacks past the Vikings for the title. The two schools were tied going into the final round of play, but Northern Arizona quickly took the lead, and a late string of birdies by sophomore A Ram Choi was not enough to make up the difference.
The Portland State softball team showed its fighting spirit over the weekend, hanging with Idaho State through three close games in Pocatello, but it was the Bengals who ultimately came away with the series victory. After the Vikings notched a win in the weekend’s first game, breaking a tie in the top of the eighth inning with a two-run single by Sadie Lopez, the Bengals came back with two extra-inning wins in a row. It was the first conference series loss this year for the Vikings, who now share the top spot in the Big Sky standings with Idaho State.