Tennis preview

The Portland State women’s tennis team continues its on-court action through spring break this year. After meeting Big Sky rival Sacramento State last night, the Vikings continue their trip through California with a matchup with UC Davis today.

The women (2–9 overall) also take on Gonzaga and Montana State at home during the spring break.

The men’s team has spring break off, but will head to California in April to take on Sacramento State and UC Davis. The men’s team is 6–7 this season and stands in sixth place in the Big Sky with a 3–2 conference record.

Two crucial Big Sky games against Northern Arizona and Idaho State at home, shortly after the two away matches will go a long way in deciding the team’s playoff fate.

Interim head coach Jay Sterling is hopeful.

“The men are continuing to improve, but we need to keep raising the bar and challenging ourselves on a daily basis,” he said.

The men split their previous weekend with a win over Seattle and a loss to Weber State.
“We were a little flat in doubles in both the duels, so we will have to address that issue, but otherwise everyone competed really well. We had some good opportunities in a couple of the matches that we lost, but couldn’t quite convert at key moments,” Sterling said.

Sterling said his team is progressing as the season continues.

“The match against Weber State really helped the guys see the level that they need to get to in order to achieve the goals that they’ve set as a team, but it also helped them see and understand that they’re not far away from being able to achieve them, with a little more work and effort,” he said.

The women’s team recorded its second win of the season against Lewis & Clark last weekend after falling to cross-town rival University of Portland the day before. The Vikings are placed at the bottom of the Big Sky standings and have yet to chalk a win over conference opponents in three tries.

“I was glad to see us recover from the Portland loss and come back strong against Lewis & Clark,” Sterling said. “There was a big Lewis & Clark crowd there, which rattled them a bit in doubles, but our women did an excellent job at quieting them down with their strong singles play, and really took care of business. I’m proud of them for continuing to fight through their season and for getting another well deserved victory under their belt.”