Will preparation bring success?

As the temperature drops on another cold, winter afternoon, on top of the Stott Center the rackets are beginning to warm up. Hit after hit, volley after volley, first-year head coach Brian Parrott looks on intensely.

Parrott, who has been involved in the tennis world since he was a young child, has always wanted a chance to coach at the collegiate level.

“I have loved tennis ever since my dad had me go out for lessons as a young child,” Parrott said.

He is as well known around Oregon for his tennis accomplishments as he is for his kindness and compassion.

After coaching the Oregon Episcopal School boys’ tennis team to three state 4A titles, and winning the 2008 4A High School Coach of the Year, Parrott took over the Portland State tennis program in the fall, replacing Steven Ascher.

Since the reinstatement of the tennis program Ascher and now Parrott have rebuilt the program from the ground up, and although the teams struggled in their inaugural season last year, Parrott expects the team to have a much better finish in 2009.

“We are young, but we are very good,” Parrott said. “We have the experience and confidence we need to make it in the top six of the Big Sky, I believe.”

Joining a young but talented men’s squad this year will be two newcomers in Christopher Rice and Branislav Valach. Rice, a transfer from BYU-Hawaii and a two-time Washington state champion while in high school in Federal Way, is highly praised by Coach Parrott.

“Chris brings a lot of confidence to the team, and he knows a few of the guys on the team already from his playing days up in Tacoma,” Parrott said.

Valach, a walk-on sophomore from Richland High School, is the tallest member of the team and can bring the squad a bigger and stronger presence when it plays tougher Big Sky opponents.

The women’s team has added two new players to the team’s nucleus this year with Victoria Bravo, a freshman from Tucson, Ariz., and Kylea Gleason, a freshman from Redmond, Wash.

The men’s squad began their season last Friday, but struggled in a 7-0 defeat to a talented Oregon team. The team’s only bright spot may have been the play of senior Adam Blackner who despite losing 6-3, 6-4, nearly forced the match into a tiebreaker set.

“We put up a good fight against the toughest team we will see this year,” Parrott said. “That team has some players that play in the ATP [Association of Tennis Professionals] along with some international players as well,”

The women also kicked off their season over the weekend, taking on UC Davis and Seattle. The Vikings were shorthanded in both matches because the team was only able to field five of the six players required for collegiate tennis.

Single action victories by sophomores Anya Dalkin and Molly Knox helped the young squad avoid the shutout by the Aggies as Portland State fell, 5-2.

On Sunday, the Vikings looked to bounce back as they took on Parrott’s alma mater, Seattle University.

Knox was joined in the win column by sophomores Alyssa Ferry and Caitlin Stocking in individual play, while Knox and Stocking also teamed up for their first doubles victory of the year. But in the end, the Redhawks took the victory 4-3.

Although the team has had to face some adversity early in the season—just their second year of fielding a team—Parrott’s coaching has given the squad some self-assurance.

“Coach does a good job of keeping our heads up,” Rice said. “He has faith and confidence in us and that spreads throughout this program.”