For the Portland State men’s and women’s tennis teams, this weekend’s results could have a significant impact on their season’s story. Both teams go into the weekend searching for their first conference win of 2012.
For the Portland State men’s and women’s tennis teams, this weekend’s results could have a significant impact on their season’s story. Both teams go into the weekend searching for their first conference win of 2012.
The women’s team will take on Seattle University at Club Green Meadows in Vancouver, Wash., on Friday and follow it up with a conference showdown against Montana at the same venue on Saturday. The Vikings are currently 1-3 overall and are yet to play a Big Sky game. Head coach Jay Sterling will stay with the women’s team.
Last weekend, the women’s tennis team were wiped out 7-0 by Pac-12 opponents Oregon. The team has been hit by a string of injuries. Sterling is hopeful this might change in time for this weekend’s matches.
“We continue not to have our full line-up,” Sterling said. “With everyone playing two or three spots above, we competed well against Oregon. We are looking forward to having our regular line-up in play as soon as possible.”
Last season, Portland State lost 5-2 to Seattle at home and 1-6 to Montana away. This season, Sterling hopes that the home advantage will help the Vikings.
“We play here at sea-level, and it makes a difference when we play tougher teams,” Sterling said. “Montana are playing really good tennis. We have to be on the top of our game. We hope to get our first Big Sky Conference win.”
On the other hand, the men’s tennis team will hit the road with assistant coach Angelo Niculescu. The Viks will face Air Force on Saturday and play their second conference match versus Northern Colorado on Sunday. The Vikings are looking for their first win this season and are currently 0-3 overall (0-1 conference).
The team is coming off two losses last weekend to Utah State (6-1) and Idaho State (6-1) respectively.
“Even though the score was 6-1 against Idaho State, we had some really close matches,” he added. “Our guys were really disappointed that we didn’t win the doubles point. We just got out-competed a little bit.”
Portland State came within a few games of winning the doubles point. The scores in the three doubles games were 6-8, 9-8, 8-3 in favor of the Bengals.
“We have a really young team, and we had a hard time moving on from the double points loss,” Sterling said. “We lost a little bit on confidence and energy.”
In 2011, Portland State had registered an emphatic 7-0 victory at home against Northern Colorado.
“Northern Colorado is a team we expect to beat. Every year we make a list of teams we want to beat and compete well against,” Sterling said. “We have to clean up some of the errors like short balls, passing shots and double faults.”
Having played their last two matches at high altitude, the Vikings hope that they are ready for their games in Colorado.
”The first match you play at altitude is always a little bit of a shocker. Having already done that, the guys feel a little more comfortable,” Niculescu said.
Junior Mitch Somach, who won his first singles game last weekend, feels confident going into this weekend’s matches.
“It’s good to finally get a win. We have to be prepared for Colorado. Coming into the net will be key this weekend,” Somach said. “We have a good chance to win this, and I am excited. We have a really young team, and we have a chance to do well this year.”
