PSU Tennis wins one, loses three

The Portland State women’s tennis team recorded its first triumph of the 2011 season with a 6-1 win over local rival Lewis & Clark at the LC Tennis Dome in Portland on Saturday. However, the Vikings could not maintain their winning momentum and suffered a reverse 1-6 result against UC Davis in their home opener at the Club Green Meadows on Sunday. With these results, the women’s team is 1-2 this season.

On the other hand, the Portland State men’s team lost both their games on the road. The Viks lost 1-6 to Cal Poly in Seattle, Wash., on Friday and were humbled 0-7 by Idaho in Eugene. These defeats saw the men slip to 0-3 for the season after beginning their campaign with a 1-6 loss against Oregon.

On the women’s side, going into Friday’s game, head coach Jay Sterling was cautious about the doubles prowess of Lewis & Clark. The Viks beat Lewis & Clark 5-2 in 2010.

“Lewis & Clark’s doubles team is very strong,” Sterling had said. “In fact, they took the doubles point from us last year, so we’ll be working on that a lot on that this week.”

Sterling’s paranoid approach paid off brilliantly as the Vikings swept all three doubles matches with identical 8-1 score lines, thereby earning the doubles point.

On the singles side, the Viks won five of the six singles matches. Freshman Yki Sugiyama started off the proceeding with a thumping 6-1, 6-1 win over Lewis & Clark’s Amalia Nilsson at line one. Senior Anya Dalkin then followed it up with a 6-0, 6-0 straight-sets win over Whitney DeBree.

Senior Caitlyn Stocking, sophomore Nayantara Vadali and freshman Marina Todd won their respective singles matches in straights sets, too. Junior Kylea Gleason fought a tough three setter at line six against Lewis & Clark’s Olivia Sweetman, but eventually fell 7-6, 3-6, 1-0.

Against UC Davis, Sugiyama won both her doubles and singles matches to finish the weekend with a perfect 4-0 record. But Portland State lost the other two doubles matches to concede the doubles point. In the singles, the Viks could not capitalize on Sugiyama’s win at line one, and lost the other five encounters in straight sets. Sugiyama had recorded a 6-3, 6-3 win over UC Davis’s Dahra Zamudio.

For the men, Sterling knew that the road trip wouldn’t be easy. “Cal Poly is a perennial powerhouse and Idaho are nationally ranked after a great fall season,” Sterling had said.

On Saturday, his assessment proved to be right. Cal Poly prevailed 6-1 over the Viks. The Vikings put up a gritty show in the doubles, stretching two of the three games into the tiebreaker with an identical (9-8, 8-6) scoreline. However, they lost all three doubles games.

Once again, senior Alex VanDerschelden was the only Portland State player to win his singles game. VanDerschelden lost his first set against Cal Poly’s Jordan Bridge 4-6. However, in the second set, Bridge retired while trailing 1-4, thereby conceding the match to VanDerschelden. VanDerschelden had won his singles game against Oregon last week.

Against Idaho on Sunday, the Viks were again very competitive in the doubles but lost all the three matches and the doubles point. The pair of Chris Rice and freshman Roman Margoulis [9-8 (5)]and VanDerschelden and sophomore Mitch Somach  [9-8 (6)] both managed to extend their games into the tiebreaker.

In the singles competition, the men’s team didn’t have much success and lost all six games. Rice lost to Idaho’s Marius Cirstea in three sets 3-6,6-1, 10-4. Margoulis also stretched his match against Jose Bendeck to the tiebreaker, but lost 6-3, 7-6.

The men’s team will take on city rivals Lewis & Clark on Friday in Portland and Gonzaga at home on Sunday. The women’s team kicks off its Big Sky challenge against Weber State in Ogden, Utah on Friday and play Utah State in Logan, Utah. ?