PORTLAND, Ore. -- The Eastern Washington University's women's tennis team had a 4-3 win over Portland State in a Big Sky matchup, today (March 11). The Eagles improve to 4-9 overall and 2-2 in the conference.

"Huge victory for the program today," head coach Dustin Hinson said. "These kind of wins are special. The team is thrilled. When we train hard day-in and day-out, it is just such a rewarding feeling to get a team victory. Doubles really got us started. We played very well and closed out the point at 2 and 3 doubles. Singles was a huge fight. Five of the six matches went to three sets."

The match was tied at 3-3 when freshman Valentina Sottile got the game winning match in three sets. In the first set, she fell 4-6 to her opponent Taylor Rees. The freshman came back and won 6-2, 6-4 in the next two sets.

In the No. 1 singles spot, junior Janaya Smith won her match in three sets against Siena Peri. She won her first set 6-1, lost her second 6-0 but came back dominate with a score of 6-3 in the third. The other Eagle to win was senior Erin Blessing in the No. 3 singles spot. She also won in three sets against Georgia Dobell. In her first set she won 6-2 and also lost her second set by a score of 6-2. In the third set she came back and won 6-3.

Sophomore Faye Worrall played in the No. 2 spot and fell in a three set battle against Tracy Dong. In her first set, she won 6-4 and lost in a tiebreaker in the second set. In the third set she fell 6-0. Junior Rachel Swindell played in the No. 4 spot and also fell in three set battle against Sally Parington. She fell in her first set by a slim margin of 6-4. In the second set she won 6-4. In the third set, she fell in a tiebreaker of 8-6 after a whole set of competition. Senior Carolina Lopez was the other Eagle that competed in the No. 5 singles spot against Sabina-Elena Preda. She fell 6-2 in the first set and 6-0 in the second.

In doubles, Eastern won the majority point for the match. The first match with Smith and Worrall went unfinished. In the No. 2 spot, Blessing and Swindell teamed up and won 6-3. In the No. 3 spot, senior Katrina Domingo and Sottile teamed up and also won 6-3.

"We are definitely motivated to build upon what we have done these past two weeks," Hinson said. "We have a couple weeks off to train before our trip to the southwest to face Northern Arizona and Southern Utah."

EWU's next match will be on March 26 when they take on Northern Arizona. The next home match will be on April 2 against against Sacramento State.

Eastern Washington 4, Portland State 3
Singles competition
1. SMITH, Janaya (EWU) def. PERI, Siena (PSU) 6-1, 0-6, 6-3
2. DONG, Tracy (PSU) def. WORRALL, Faye (EWU) 4-6, 7-6 (7-2), 6-0
3. BLESSING, Erin (EWU) def. DOBELL, Georgia (PSU) 6-2, 2-6, 6-3
4. PARTINGTON, Sally (PSU) def. SWINDELL, Rachel (EWU) 6-4, 4-6, 7-6 (8-6)
5. PREDA, Sabina-Elena (PSU) def. LOPEZ, Carolina (EWU) 6-2, 6-0
6. SOTTILE, Valentina (EWU) def. REES, Taylor (PSU) 4-6, 6-2, 6-4

Doubles competition
1. PERI, Siena/DONG, Tracy (PSU) vs. SMITH, Janaya/WORRALL, Faye (EWU) 4-5, unfinished
2. BLESSING, Erin/SWINDELL, Rachel (EWU) def. PARTINGTON, Sally/REES, Taylor (PSU) 6-3
3. DOMINGO, Katrina/SOTTILE, Valentina (EWU) def. DOBELL, Georgia/PREDA, Sabina-Elena (PSU) 6-3