If there’s one thing you should know about the Portland State women’s tennis team, it’s this: they are winners in every sense of the word despite their apparent struggles on the court.
With a 2-10 overall record and a 0-3 start to conference play, there is clearly room for improvement.
But the lack of success has not deterred the members of the team from maintaining the right attitude and working hard at honing their skills in an effort to consistently improve on the court.
The team is comprised of four sophomores—Molly Knox, Alyssa Ferry, Caitlin Stocking, and Anya Dalkin—who play in the first four positions respectively, and two freshmen, Victoria Bravo and Kylea Gleason.
For the sophomores, things have not gone as they had imagined when they first came to the South Park Blocks. All four players were part of a recruiting class that was brought in by former head coach Steven Ascher.
The team, despite its youth, grew together last season and the framework of a successful program seemed to be in place. However, Ascher left Portland State to became a coach at Montana prior to the fall season.
Ascher’s departure may have contributed to the top two players from last year’s team—Lacey Pflibsen and Stephanie Fuchs—transferring to the University of Portland.
“I don’t blame him [Coach Ascher] for doing what he needed to do, but it was kind of hard,” said Molly Knox who has taken over the team’s No. 1 position this season.
New coach Brian Parrott, a man with local ties that run deep through the River City, has taken over and breathed new life into the fledgling program.
Parrott admits that the tennis program is not up to par with some of the other schools in the Big Sky, but Parrott plans to use some of his local connections to help the teams increase in prestige and funding.
Already, he said, he has seen some dramatic improvement and potential from his young women’s team.
“We have a very good group of tennis players,” Parrot said. “To the average eye you won’t see a whole lot of difference between these players and professionals. Come out and watch. You’ll see some very good tennis.”
Outside of a strong following of parents and the mutual support that the men’s and women’s teams give each other, there are only a few supporters at their matches.
“What people need to know is that we are giving it our all each and every match and it would be great to have more supporters,” Knox said.
As the team practiced atop the Stott Center roof, a frigid February breeze blew through the courts, highlighting another shortcoming that the tennis team has worked through.
“It’s cold in the winter, we want some heaters in here,” said Anya Dalkin.
The Vikings have just two remaining home matches this season, as they will take on Utah State and Sacramento State in the month of March.