Viking tennis heads toward home stretch

The Big Sky Conference-leading University of Montana Grizzlies came to Club Green Meadows last Saturday for a contest against the ninth-ranked Portland State tennis team. The Vikings are currently sitting three places out of playoff contention.

The Grizzlies, led by Heather Davidson and Laurence Pelchat, raced out to a lead in No. 1 doubles and never looked back, thrashing the Vikings’ Marina Todd and Nayanatara Vadali 8-1.

Next on court was Portland State’s No. 2 doubles duo of Mandy Mallen and Marti Pellicano, who were shut down by Maddy Murray and Sasha Carter by a score of 8-3 to lock up the doubles point for the Grizzlies. Montana secured the doubles sweep with a win by Precious Gbadamosi and Haley Driver over Megan Govi and Kelsey Frey in the No. 3 slot.

Looking to turn the match in their favor, the Vikings took to the courts for singles play and a chance at the remaining six points of the match. The No. 2 singles match wrapped up first, with Montana’s Sasha Carter taking down Mandy Mallen 6-0, 6-0. The Grizzlies went on to win all six singles matches, five of them in straight sets, to complete the sweep.

Both the men’s and women’s tennis teams were set to take on the University of North Dakota on Sunday, but North Dakota was unable to make the trip due to inclement weather. On Friday, the women’s team will take on the Southern Utah University Thunderbirds in another conference meeting.

With six Big Sky matchups remaining on the women’s schedule, the Vikings will need to get back on track and finish the season at .500 or better to have any chance of making it into the conference tournament. The men’s team has yet to notch a win in conference play this season and sits in last place in the Big Sky standings. The men have seven matches remaining, six of which come against conference opponents, and will need to win the majority of them in order to make the playoffs for the first time in PortlandState history.