Tennis knocked out of Big Sky Tourney

The Portland State women’s tennis team headed to San Francisco this past Thursday for the Big Sky regional tournament. The tournament didn’t start until Friday though, so the team had some spare time to play the local San Francisco State team.

Unfortunately, the Vikings weren’t able to beat San Francisco, but it wasn’t a total loss. Portland State used the game as a springboard to prepare themselves for the tournament.

The Vikings were without their number two player, Freshman Blaze Wadum, who recently underwent surgery that brought her season to a quick end. According to head coach Leslie Lewis, the hole left in the roster by Wadum’s absence was a big one, but it wasn’t enough to dampen the team’s spirits during the tournament.

“They played well,” Lewis said. “They gave it their best effort.”

Friday the Vikings took on Northern Arizona and the outcome wasn’t what Portland State had hoped for. Northern Arizona, one of the top three schools in the Big Sky Conference, swept the Vikings in seven straight games for the win.

After the loss to Arizona the Vikings had to ready themselves for Weber State, the number one team in the conference. Portland State took a big hit as Weber State beat them 7-0 on Saturday.

Despite the losses, Lewis feels the team has improved over the year and was happy with their effort, especially the contributions from the three seniors; Melinda Johnson, Holly Meldahl and Abby Shaquun.

“They’ve progressed a ton,” Lewis said. “They played their hearts out.”

With the women’s season now over, Lewis will turn her focus to the men’s team who will be traveling to Utah this Thursday to play Utah State before the Big Sky regional tournament, which starts on Friday. Without their number one player, Michael Theoresz, the Vikings must win the majority of their matches if they are to make up the points lost because of the incomplete roster.