VANCOUVER, Wash. – Despite cruising through doubles play and Zach Lubek's win from the No. 6 spot the Portland State Vikings men's tennis team fell to 6-9 and 1-4 in conference following a 5-2 loss to Montana at Club Green Meadows, Saturday morning.

The Vikings came out on fire in doubles with the No. 1 team of Connor Gilmore and Brent Wheeler downing the Grizzlies' Michael Facey and Mikolaj Caruk, 8-2.

Meanwhile the No. 3 team of Abhinav Mishra and Alec Marx, stayed undefeated as a tandemin 2013 as the duo downed Semion Branzburg and Eric Braun to the tune of 8-3, to clinch the doubles point for Portland State.

On court No. 2 the team of Ian Risenhoover and Antoine Bechmann were in a battle with Andrew Warrant and Ethan Vaughn, but because the point had been decided, the match was discontinued.

With the Viks' 1-0 lead, the squad looked to seal the deal in singles play.

It didn't take long for Montana to get on the board with their first point of the contest however, as Branzburg defeated Risenhoover in straight sets, 6-0, 6-2, to tie the match up at 1-1.

The Griz never looked back from there, taking the next four singles contests
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Wheeler fell from the No. 4 spot as he was defeated by Vaughn, 6-1, 6-3 to make it 2-1, Montana.

Connor Gilmore fell, 6-2, 6-3 from the No. 2 spot as Warran recorded the victory, while the match was clinched for the Grizzlies in position No. 1 where Bechmann was upended, 6-3, 6-4 by Mikolaj.

While Wil Cochrane was the next Viking to fall to Montana from the No. 3 spot, 6-2, 6-3, the story was much different for Lubek.

From court No. 6 position, the aspiring pediatrician took control in the opening set against his childhood and juniors friend and opponent, Braun, edging out a close set, 7-5. Braun came back in the next frame and turned the tables, stifling Lubek to the tune of 6-1. With the match already decided the two went to a 10-point tiebreaker. The Helena, Mont., native retook momentum in the tiebreaker and took the deciding stanza, 10-7 to give the Viks' their first singles win of the afternoon as Lubek won, 7-5, 1-6, 1-0 (10-7).

Portland State will be back in action on April 5 and April 7 as the team hosts Sacramento State and Northern Colorado at Club Green Meadows, respectively. The match times are both scheduled for 9 a.m.
 
 
 

Singles competition

1. CARUK, Mikolaj (UM) def. BECHMANN, Antoine (PSU) 6-3, 6-4

2. WARREN, Andrew (UM) def. GILMORE, Connor (PSU) 6-2, 6-3

3. FACEY, Michael (UM) def. COCHRANE, Wil (PSU) 6-2, 6-3

4. VAUGHN, Ethan (UM) def. WHEELER, Brent (PSU) 6-1, 6-3

5. BRANZBURG, Semion (UM) def. RISENHOOVER, Ian (PSU) 6-0, 6-2

6. LUBEK, Zach (PSU) def. BRAUN, Eric (UM) 7-5, 1-6, 1-0 (10-7)

 

Doubles competition

1. GILMORE, Connor/WHEELER, Brent (PSU) def. FACEY, Michael/CARUK, Mikolaj (UM) 8-2

2. RISENHOOVER, Ian/BECHMANN, Antoine (PSU) vs. WARREN, Andrew/VAUGHN, Ethan (UM) 7-6, unfinished

3. MARX, Alec/MISHRA, Abhinav (PSU) def. BRANZBURG, Semion/BRAUN, Eric (UM) 8-3

 

Match Notes

Montana 5-5, 4-0

Portland State 6-9, 1-4

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