TEMPE, Ariz. – The Portland women's tennis team cracked the ITA National Team Rankings on Tuesday coming in at No. 66 this week. It marks the first time the Pilots have been ranked since 2016 and is just the third year Portland has earned an ITA team ranking.

The Pilots (7-2) are off to the best nine-match start in program history. Portland six consecutive wins are the most since the 2015 squad won seven straight matches, while last weekend's 5-2 win against No. 52 Northern Arizona was the team's first win against a ranked opponent since 2015. Portland's two losses this season were road matches to currently ranked Washington (No. 25) and Oregon (No. 51).

"This is a product of work and dedication that our players have put in over the years," Portland head coach Filip Zivkovic said. "We were picked to finish ninth in the WCC this year so being the third highest ranked team in the league is a testament to how quickly things can change in college tennis and we do not take it for granted.

"We are still a couple of weeks away from opening the WCC season and we are gearing up for those challenges. Conference is very deep this year and every match will be a battle, but that is what we have been preparing for and we are looking forward to representing the University of Portland in the best possible way."

The 2015 Portland team was the first to be ranked coming in at No. 67 on March 24 and would eventually be ranked as high as No. 48 before finishing the season at No. 63. The Pilots opened the 2016 spring season ranked No. 67, but fell out of the rankings early in the dual season.

Portland will look to continue the momentum into Sunday's home match against the Weber State Wildcats at 9 a.m. Live video and scoring links for all Pilot home matches are available at PortlandPilots.com.