PORTLAND, Ore. – In the first of two matches against their crosstown rivals, the Portland Pilots women's tennis team fell to the Portland State Vikings 4-3. The loss drops the Pilots to 0-3 on the season. Iva Zelic and Angela Schuster earned the two points for the Pilots on Friday in the No. 1 and No. 6 singles matches, respectively.

All three of Portland's doubles squads pushed the Vikings to win-by-two situations. In both the No. 1 and No. 2 doubles matches, the Pilots trailed 2-4 before making a comeback. Iva Zelic and Marija Elenova were unable to win in No. 1 doubles, but Neli Sunjic and Rimona Rouf pushed PSU to a super tie-breaker, which UP won 12-10. Unfortunately for the Pilots, Emily Soares and Jana Tanevska were unable to hold their lead in the No. 3 doubles match and fell 7-5 to PSU's Gerda Upeniece and Ashley Ramirez.

Zelic got the first win of the day for Portland in the No. 1 singles matchup. The sophomore got the lead in both sets and never looked back. The same happened for Angela Schuster, who dominated the No. 6 singles matchup to win in straight sets.

The clinching point for the Vikings, however, came soon after Schuster's victory. Marija Elenova won three straight sets after falling behind 4-0 in the No. 4 singles match. But Emily Rees was able to close it out for PSU in the next two games, earning the Vikings the victory. Lela Daszuta also fought hard in the No. 5 singles match, coming back after falling behind 5-2 in the second set to tie it up. But Ashley Ramirez took the final two games to win the match.

The Pilots and the Vikings will face off again on Sunday at the Babette Horenstein Tennis Center in Beaverton, Ore. Matches are set to begin at 11 a.m.

Vikings 5, Pilots 2
Portland, Ore (Louisiana-Pacific Tennis Center)
February 26, 2021
Singles

1. Iva Zelic (UP) def. Lotti Meszaros (PSU) 6-3, 6-2
2. Capucine Sanoner (PSU) def. Neli Sunjic (UP) 6-4, 6-2
3. Makoto Ohara (PSU) def. Emily Soares (UP) 6-4, 6-3
4. Emily Rees (PSU) def. Marija Elenova (UP) 6-3, 6-3
5. Ashley Ramirez (PSU) def. Lela Daszuta (UP) 7-6 (5), 7-5
6. Angela Schuster (UP) vs. Gerda Upeniece (PSU) 6-2, 6-3

Doubles

1. Sanoner/Ohara (PSU) def. Zelic/Elenova (UP) 7-5
2. Sunjic/Rouf (UP) def. Meszaros/Rees (PSU) 7-6 (10)
3. Upeniece/Ramirez (PSU) vs. Soares/Tanevska (UP) 7-5

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