Tennis nets two wins, two losses

The Portland State men’s tennis team suffered a heartbreaking 3-4 loss against Sacramento State in their Big Sky opener on Thursday, but came back Saturday with a convincing 6-1 win over Seattle.

The women’s team also managed to split their weekend matches. On Saturday, the team lost to city rivals Portland 2-5, and then secured a 7-0 win against Willamette on Sunday in Salem.

The men’s tennis team entered into the conference opener against Sacramento State on the back of two successive 7-0 wins against Lewis & Clark and Gonzaga. In their Big Sky duel last season, the Vikings were humbled 0-7 by Sacramento State.

On Thursday, however, the Vikings opened their doubles competition with grit and resilience at the Club Green Meadows in Vancouver, Wash. The pairs of senior Chris Rice and freshman Roman Margoulis, and senior Alex VanDerschelden and sophomore Mitch Somach, won their matches 8-6 and 8-1, respectively, to earn the doubles point.

However, things looked very different in the singles contests. Somach at line three and senior Jeff Cero at line six were the only Vikings to taste victory. Somach defeated Sac State’s Marko Starvevic 6-7 (4-7), 7-5, 10-8 in a three-set thriller while Jeff Cero broke Sac State’s Blake Emery once in each set to win his game 7-5, 6-4.

Thus, the Viks won two and lost four of their singles matches, thereby conceding the contest to the Hornets. Despite the loss, the result was a remarkable improvement over their whitewashing in 2010. Last season, Sac State finished top of the table with a 7-1 record and then went on to win the Big Sky title.

On Saturday, Portland State avenged their earlier defeat with a 6-1 win over Seattle at home. The doubles game were competitive but the pairs of Rice/Margoulis and VanDerschelden/Somach won their games 8-6 and 9-7 after breaking their opponents once in the set. The singles games were much better for the Viks, as they won all the singles matches except at line two.

With these results, the Vikings now have a 3-4 win-loss record this season and are 0-1 in Big Sky competition. Next weekend, they play back-to-back games on the road against Utah and Big Sky rivals Weber State on successive days.

For the women’s team, the weekend began with a trip to their northern city rival Portland on Friday. Despite the doubles win by the pair of senior Anya Dalkin and freshman Yuki Sugiyama, the Viks lost the other two doubles matches and the doubles point.

In the singles, Sugiyama once again shined and defeated Portland’s Lacy Pflibsen 4-2, 2-6. With this singles win, Sugiyam extended her singles record for the season to 5-1.

At line three, senior Caitlyn Stocking also won her match against Stephanie Fuchs 6-3, 6-3. However, the Viks lost the four remaining singles duels to the Pilots, and conceded the contest.

Against Willamette on Sunday, the Vikings won all their games and secured a 7-0 win.  Sugiyama won her sixth straight singles game. Junior Kylea Gleason said that enjoyed playing against Willamette.

“Today was a very fun game because everyone got a chance to play. Nayantara [Vadali]’s game stretched to three sets and took over two hours to finish. But she won in the end and that was fun to watch,” Gleason said.

With these results, the women’s team is now 2-5 in 2010 and 0-1 in Big Sky competition. Next weekend, the Viks play a tough three-game weekend in Montana. The team plays Montana State-Billings on Friday and the two conference matches against Montana State and Montana over the weekend. ?