It’s been a hard season for Portland State women’s tennis. The young team played most of 2012 without some of its key players and was on the road for most of the season. The program hired an assistant coach just before the start of the season.
It’s been a hard season for Portland State women’s tennis. The young team played most of 2012 without some of its key players and was on the road for most of the season. The program hired an assistant coach just before the start of the season.
However, despite all the adversities, the women’s tennis team managed to achieve a feat that their men’s counterpart couldn’t: a Big Sky Conference win.
In the final weekend of the season, Portland State defeated conference rivals Weber State 4-3 at home and finished the season with a 4-15 overall record (1-7 conference). The team finished ninth among the nine teams in the conference. The top four teams in the table at the end of the season make it to the Big Sky semifinals.
“Not having our full lineup and missing our top players is tough,” head coach Jay Sterling said. “The players still competed hard, but we were lacking the depth in our lineup.”
In terms of results, this was the Vikings’ worst performance under Sterling’s three-year reign. But although these results are well short of the team’s pre-season goal of qualifying for the Big Sky Conference playoffs, there is some hope for the future. Many of the team’s best young players, including freshman Megan Govi and sophomore Marina Todd, will be returning next season—wiser and more experienced.
Two of this season’s four wins came at home, while the other two were earned on the road. The team’s first win was a hard-fought away victory (4-3) against local rivals Lewis and Clark in January. It wasn’t until the end of February that Portland State won its second game of the season.
Playing in Bozeman, Mont., against the Montana State Billings, the Vikings came up with an impressive 7-0 whitewash. Two weeks later, the Vikings had to once again fight hard for their 4-3 home win against city rivals Linfield at Club Green Meadows in Vancouver, Wash.
But by far the biggest win of the season came in the last weekend of play. Going into a home game against conference rivals Weber State, the women’s tennis team was hungry for a conference win. The Vikings dug deep and came up with yet another narrow 4-3 home win against Weber State.
In terms of individual performances, Govi lead the teams with eight wins and 11 losses in singles competition. In conference play, she was the only Vikings player to have a .500 record or better, with four wins and four losses in Big Sky play.
“Our expectation from [Govi] was to improve significantly, and she has done that,” Sterling said. “She maintains really good grades and brings intensity to every practice and match. She doesn’t do anything half way. She is a role model to the incoming freshmen and a living demonstration of what Portland State tennis is all about.”
And with all the core of the team returning for next season’s campaign, the Portland State women’s team have plenty to prepare and look forward to.
