The Portland State, University of Portland, and Washington women’s tennis teams are coming to the Vancouver Tennis Center for a three-day tournament starting Friday.
The inaugural Portland-Seattle Battle is happening at the Vancouver Tennis Center through Sunday. Play starts at 3 p.m. Friday, and 9:30 a.m. on Saturday and Sunday.
Admission is free.
Host Portland State, which plays its home matches at Club Green Meadows in Vancouver, returns two seniors in Ashley Knecht from Ashland, Ore., and Taylor Rees of Portland.
On the Pilots roster this season is freshman Angela Schuster of Timberline High in Lacey. She won the WIAA 4A state title in Class 4A as a sophomore after placing fifth as a freshman. She was state runner-up last year in 3A and also placed fourth at 3A as a junior.
Washington features senior Stacey Fung of Vancouver, B.C. She started the fall season No. 9 in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association singles rankings. She finished her junior season ranked No. 20 and was an All-Pac-12 First Team selection.
“It is just so exciting for us to be playing at home against the University of Washington and the University of Portland at our tournament,” Portland State coach Jay Sterling said in a news release. “It is just fun and I think the team is excited about that and I know I am. We want to try to make it a great event for years to come.”
Sterling said the longterm goal of the event is for the host team to rotate every season. In initial conversations he said that Washington could host in 2019 and University of Portland, which will have just opened a new tennis facility, could host the 2020 version of the event.
