Women's tennis loses close match at Portland State

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PORTLAND, Ore. – The Northern Colorado women's tennis team couldn't quite pull off the road win in Big Sky Conference action, falling 4-3 at Portland State on Friday evening.

The Vikings won the always important doubles point, winning all three matches. In singles, the two teams split matches with the Bears winning a number three, five and six.

"We had an extremely poor performance today on the road," said Head Coach Brenda Vlasak. "We did not show up whatsoever in any singles or doubles match and our energy was very low. I know our team wanted the win, but we were unable to piece things together to make it happen."

Freshman Elizabeth Tapia, freshman Stephanie Catlin and sophomore Jennifer Buchanan each won their second-straight singles matches, and all three did so in straight sets.

Tapia defeated Nayanatara Vivaldi 6-0, 6-0 to improve to 4-5 on the season, while Catlin beat Caitlin Stocking 6-1, 6-4 for a 5-4 record in 2011. Buchanan was also dominant at number six, winning 6-0, 6-1 to improve to a team-best 6-2 on the young season.

"The good thing about this loss is there is nowhere else to go but up," said Vlasak. "We have a lot of work to do before our next conference match and I believe this team can make things happen if we focus, dig in and play full points – not half points."

The Bears return to the court tomorrow for a non-conference match-up at the University of Portland. They return to Big Sky action on March 4 when they host Montana State.