VANCOUVER, Wash. – The Portland State women's tennis team (11-11, 2-6), powered by dominant doubles play and wins from Kelsey Frey and Megan Govi, put themselves in position to score a key Big Sky win against Northern Colorado, but fell in heartbreaking fashion, in Vancouver Wash., on Saturday afternoon. Despite playing with a shortened lineup the Viks jumped out to a 3-1 lead before the Bears tallied three-straight singles victories to seal the come-from-behind win, 4-3.

Portland State entered the match shorthanded as Mandy Mallen, a regular singles and doubles contributor, was suspended prior to Saturday, for one match due to violation of team rules.

Despite the lineup shakeup, the Vikings once again excelled in doubles play as they continued to turn a perceived weakness into a strength, taking two of the three matches.

The Bears drew first blood in the doubles point as Stephanie Catlin and Elizabeth Tapia kept the No. 1 team of Nayanatara Vadali and Marina Todd searching for answers, but none came as the PSU duo was downed, 8-2.

The story was much different on courts two and three as Portland State staked leads on both courts.

The newly formed team of Alexa McDonald and Marti Pellicano looked like they had played together all season, jumping out to an early lead and never looking back, defeating Jennifer Buchanan and Hilary Walters-West, 8-4.

In the deciding court, the No. 2 team of Frey and Govi were working on a lead of their own as the team battled to an 8-5 victory over Claire Uhle and Chrissie Hoolahan to seal the doubles point.

With an emotional victory in tow, the Vikings seized control of singles play early.

Frey, Govi and Pellicano all jumped out to first set wins, giving the Viks hope for the necessary three singles wins to clinch the match.

Frey was the first to tally a victory as the freshman ground out a straight-set, 6-4, 6-4 victory over Tapia. Frey continued an impressive freshman campaign as she improved to 12-8 overall and 4-4 in conference play. The win pushed PSU's lead to 2-0.

Northern Colorado battled back to make it 2-1 as Hoolahan solved McDonald in straight sets to the tune of 6-3, 6-1 to make it 2-1 Vikings.

As has been a familiar refrain in 2013, Govi tallied another win for Portland State from the No. 3 spot, battling to a 6-4 win in the first set and cruising to a 6-2 win in the second frame to earn her 16^th win of the season. The San Rafeal, Calif., native, who has become accustomed to tying and breaking records this season, tied another one in 2013, matching the program's most conference wins in a season, recording her sixth Big Sky victory. Yuki Sugiyama accomplished the feat in 2011.

With the match at 3-1, Portland State looked to be in the driver seat as Pellicano and Todd were entering decisive third sets and Vadali just beginning her match as PSU just needed one more victory to earn the win.

On court No. 1 Todd lived up to her reputation as a scrapper, fighting back after a first set 7-6 (7) loss to win the second 7-6 (3). Despite piecing together game wins, Buchanan outlasted the junior, taking the third set, 6-4 to push the score to 3-2.

The Bears evened the match score up on court No. 6 as Walters-West downed Vadali, 6-4, 6-1 to make it 3-3 with one match remaining.

All eyes turned to court No. 4 as Pellicano and Uhle were entrenched in third-set warfare. The PSU senior appeared to be in control up a game through much of the match but Uhle began to gain momentum, eventually tying the score at 5-5.

Pellicano, visibly bothered by cramping in her calves and forearm, attempted to turn the tide back in favor of the Viks but Uhle scored the next two games to take the set 7-5 and seal the match for Northern Colorado.

With the close 4-3 loss, it marks the third time this season that Portland State has fallen by a 4-3 score.

The Vikings are now down to two games left in its season and will next be in action next weekend when the team hosts Sacramento State next Sunday at 1 p.m., in Vancouver, Wash. The teams will also be celebrating the careers of both Pellicano and Vadali who will both be playing in their final home contest as a member of the Portland State Vikings.

Singles competition

1. BUCHANAN, Jennifer (UNC) def. TODD, Marina (PSU) 7-6 (9-7), 6-7 (3-7), 6-4

2. FREY, Kelsey (PSU) def. TAPIA, Elizabeth (UNC) 6-4, 6-4

3. GOVI, Megan (PSU) def. CATLIN, Stephanie (UNC) 6-4, 6-2

4. UHLE, Claire (UNC) def. PELLICANO, Marti (PSU) 5-7, 7-6 (10-8), 7-5

5. HOOLAHAN, Chrissie (UNC) def. MCDONALD, Alexa (PSU) 6-3, 6-1

6. WALTERS-WEST, Hilary (UNC) def. VADALI, Nayanatara (PSU) 6-4, 6-1

 

Doubles competition

1. CATLIN, Stephanie/TAPIA, Elizabeth (UNC) def. TODD, Marina/VADALI, Nayanatara (PSU) 8-2

2. FREY, Kelsey/GOVI, Megan (PSU) def. UHLE, Claire/HOOLAHAN, Chrissie (UNC) 8-5

3. MCDONALD, Alexa/PELLICANO, Marti (PSU) def. BUCHANAN, Jennifer/WALTERS-WEST, Hilary (UNC) 8-4

 

Match Notes

Northern Colorado 9-7, 5-3

Portland State 11-11, 2-6

Order of finish: Doubles (1,3,2); Singles (2,5,3,1,6,4)