Tennis roundup

The Portland State men’s tennis team won an all-important conference encounter against Northern Colorado at Greeley, Colo., on Saturday but lost 5–2 to Air Force at Colorado Springs on Sunday. The Vikings now stand third in the Big Sky and have a 5–6 record overall.

The women’s team, on the other hand, was handed out a repeat of last week’s treatment. On Saturday, the Viks once again lost to Seattle, this time in Richmond, Wash. The women are 1–8 this season, with their only victory of 2010 coming against Southern Oregon (6–1) last weekend at the Stott Center.

Going into the match against Northern Colorado, interim head coach Jay Sterling played down the importance of the game.

“Every day at the beginning of practice, we talk about our next match, and what we’re doing that day and that week to improve and prepare for that match, and that match alone,” he said. “We rarely discuss anything beyond that. Sure, we set team goals for the season, but making the Big Sky Conference Championships wasn’t one of them. Instead, our season goal setting was focused on attainable, measurable goals that involve improving our play.”

“The guys are really seeing it—if they accomplish the things that they set out to do, week to week, the rest of the stuff will naturally occur more often because, at the end of the week, they will be an improved team, full of improved players. But making “winning” the end goal for my players goes against my philosophy as a coach, so we’re not really thinking about our chances in the Big Sky—only on how we can improve this week to be more competitive against Northern Colorado,” Sterling said.

On Saturday, the Vikings implemented that very same philosophy and surpassed the expectations of their coach, winning all three doubles and five of the six singles matches to take the encounter 6–1. The Vandals are left still looking for their first victory of the season.

In Sunday’s game, playing at an altitude was a difficult proposition for the Viks facing a highflying Air Force team. The Falcons avenged last year’s loss to the Vikings with a 5–2 win, to extend their winning streak to four games. The Vikings next take on Seattle and Weber State this coming weekend in Portland.

The women’s team improved their performance against Seattle since playing them last weekend at the Stott Center but they could not improve the final scoreline, where they lost, 7–0. In Saturday’s match, juniors Caitlin Stocking and Anya Dalkin and freshman Tara Vadali managed to stretch their games to the third set but failed to overcome their opponents.

Later that same day, the Vikings went down to Idaho in straight sets in all of their doubles and singles matches. The Vandals won that match 7–0. The women’s team next plays Lewis & Clark in Portland this coming weekend.