Tennis extravaganza!

This weekend the Portland State men’s tennis team looks to do what the women’s team could not—to earn a win over Sacramento State and UC Davis in California.

After facing Sac State on Friday and UC Davis on Saturday, the men then take on Northern Arizona at the Club Green Meadows on Monday in a bid to keep their semifinal hopes alive.

Meanwhile, the women’s team enjoys home court advantage at the Club Green Meadows on Saturday against Weber State and on Monday against Northern Arizona.

The men’s team stands fourth in the conference with a 3–2 record (6–7 overall), and are well placed to make the final push to qualify for the Big Sky semis. Friday’s opponent Sacramento State heads the Big Sky with a 6–1 record and has yet to lose a game at home this season.

“Sacramento State is always a tough team to play,” said interim head coach Jay Sterling. “We have to bring our A-game for sure. We have been working really hard to compete against teams like Sacramento State and now is the time to execute what we have been working on.”

In Saturday’s contest, the Vikings will seek revenge against UC Davis who beat them 5–2 in February. Former Big Sky player of the week Alex VanDerschelden said, “We had a lot of close three-set games against UC Davis and they are certainly a team we can beat.”

The Viks then go head-to-head against third-placed Northern Arizona on Monday in what promises to be a crucial match for both teams.

“The Northern Arizona game is extremely important. We need to take at least two of the three remaining conference games, and the Northern Arizona game is key to our chances to make it to the semis. It’s going to be a battle and our guys are really looking forward to it,” Sterling said.

The women’s team (0–5 Big Sky, 2–14 overall) plays Weber State, who is placed just one rung above in the Big Sky table on Saturday, and table-toppers Northern Arizona on Monday.
“Weber State is a match our women should compete well in. We have the skill and the ability but the girls need to have the belief in themselves that they can do it,” Sterling said.

Sterling feels that there is a lot of scope for improvement in the women’s team’s game.

“We have been struggling to hold serve, which is particularly frustrating in doubles. We are too good in doubles to not be holding serve more often, but we have to do a better job taking care of our service games, starting with a better first serve percentage throughout the line-up.”

“We need to be more active at the net and more fluid in our team movement, which we’ve been working on a lot this week. In singles, we need to have better movement and point construction, and focus on making a higher percentage on our service returns, particularly on weak second serves. We’ve been giving away way too many free points to our opponents, and we are better than that,” he said.

Men’s tennis schedule
Fri    at Sacramento State
Sat    at UC Davis
Mon    Northern Arizona

Women’s tennis schedule
Sat    Weber State
Mon    Northern Arizona