TOURNAMENT LINK

STANFORD, Calif. — Portland State head men's tennis coach Toby Krauel boasted about his new players during the week before the ITA Northwest Regional, and those newcomers backed up their coach's optimism Friday, as the Vikings recorded four wins on the first day of the tournament at the Taube Tennis Center.
 
Newcomers Stuart Tierney and Matt Pronesti started the day off strong for the newcomers with a win in the first round of the doubles draw, while Tierney and fellow newcomer Ethan Lopez won their first-round singles matches later in the day Friday, along with returner Ian Risenhoover.
 
"This is a great start for our team as our fall tournament season gets under way," Kraul said.
 
Tierney and Pronesti teamed up to beat Bryce McKelvie and Everett Maltby of UC Davis 8-6 in the first round of doubles, advancing them to the round of 32 tomorrow. Tierney and Pronesti will face Jamie Fisher and Reid Delaubenfels of the University of Portland in the next round Saturday at 9 a.m. (PT).
 
Tierney and Pronesti's win highlighted a great showing from the Vikings in doubles, which included a pair of narrow losses for the Vikings' other two new doubles teams.
 
Lopez and teammate Wil Cochrane paired up to play an extremely tight first round doubles match against a team from the University of Washington of the Pac-12. Lopez and Cochrane took the Huskies' Viktor Farkas and Jake Douglas and Viktor Farkas into a tiebreaker in their match, but fell 7-5 in the tiebreaker to narrowly lose 8-7 (5).
 
Ibanez and sophomore Jonathan Pike, the Vikings' other new doubles team, also lost a hard-fought first-round doubles match in a tiebreaker, as they fell 8-7 (2) to Jason Lee and Christian Brockstedt of the University of San Francisco.
 
The Vikings' lone returning doubles team put up a fight in their first round match as well, as Risenhoover and senior Brent Wheeler took Tom Miller and Ayman Abdulwahab of Big Sky-rival Sacramento State deep into their match before falling 8-6.
 
Tierney then led the Vikings again as the team turned to singles play later in the day. Tierney opened up singles play with a win, beating Gonzaga's Vladimir Mijatovic in a tight second-set tiebreaker to take their first-round match in straight sets, 6-2, 7-6 (5).
 
Lopez also won his first-round singles match thanks to a second-set tiebreaker, beating Alec Wagner of Saint Mary's 7-4 in the breaker to win their match 6-2, 7-6 (4).
 
The newcomers Tierney and Lopez weren't alone in leading the Vikings in singles, however, as the most dramatic win of the Vikings' first day at the tournament came from Risenhoover, one of the Vikings' returners. Risenhoover lost a tight first set, 7-5, in his first-round match against San Francisco's Alexander Santiago, but then rallied with a dramatic tiebreaker win in the second set. Risenhoover beat Santiago 8-6 in the breaker to send the match to a third set. Risenhoover had the momentum at that point, and finished Santiago off with a 6-3 win in the third to complete the comeback for a 5-7, 7-6 (6), 6-3 win.
 
"Ian played the best match I have seen in the last two years," Krauel said. "To come from a set down against a solid player from USF in Santiago was impressive to see."
 
The Vikings' first-round winners faced tough draws in their second-round matches, however, as all three went up against seeded players.
 
Tierney faced the University of the Pacific's Daniel Alameh in the second round, and dropped a tough first set to Alameh, 6-2. Tierney bounced back to level the match with a 6-4 second-set win, but Alameh then returned to form to beat Tierney 6-2 in the third set to win the match 6-2, 4-6, 6-2.
 
Meanwhile, Lopez, a former Fresno State Bulldog, faced a former teammate in the second round in Sal Kartik Nakireddi, who advanced after winning a three-set match over Sacramento State's Abdulwahab in the first round. Nakireddi, who also finished last dual season ranked 18th in singles in the ITA Northwest region, swept through the first set, beating Lopez 6-0 to take an early lead. Lopez rallied to earn a set point in the second set, but eventually lost the set 7-5 in a tiebreaker to lose the match 6-0, 7-6 (5).
 
Finally, Risenhoover's long first-round match left him with an uphill battle in the second round, especially as he had to play the University of the Pacific's Sern Verbeek, who earned a bye through the first round as one of the tournament's top seeds. Consequently Verbeek, who also started the season ranked 125th in the ITA preseason national rankings, breezed past Risenhoover in straight sets, 6-2, 6-1.
 
The rest of the Vikings dropped their matches in the first round Friday.
 
Pronesti lost a tight match with Fresno State's Eric Komati in the first round, as he dropped a pair of tight sets to Komati to lose in straight sets. Pronesti and Komati were even deep into the first set, but Pronesti faltered late to lose the set 7-5. Pronesti rebounded to play another tight set in the second, but Komati came out on top again, beating Pronesti 6-4 in the second to win the match, 7-5, 6-4.
 
Cochrane, meanwhile, drew a tough opponent for his first singles match, as he faced off against Stanford's Anthony Tsodikov, who finished the 2014 dual season ranked 19th in the ITA Northwest region. Cochrane fell in straight sets to Tsodkov, losing 6-2, 6-1.
 
Wheeler also faced off against a Pac-12 opponent in the first round in Washington's Rishabh Raman. Wheeler rallied after a first-set loss to play a tight second set with Raman, but ultimately fell 6-2, 6-4.
 
Ibanez, meanwhile, faced off against one of the top players in the Big Sky Conference lst season in Eastern Washington's Robert Dula. Dula earned All-Big Sky first-team honors while playing at No. 1 singles for the Eagles last season, and beat Ibanez in straight sets Friday, 6-1, 6-0.
 
Additionally, Pike dropped a tight first set, 6-4, in his first-round match against Gonzaga's Alvaro Nazal, and then lost the second set, 6-2, to fall 6-4, 6-2.
 
The Vikings who lost Friday will compete in the consolation singles and doubles draw Saturday.