CORVALLIS, Ore. — The Portland State men's tennis team set itself up for a potential sweep of the singles and doubles titles at the Corvallis Indoor Tennis Championships Saturday, as several players and doubles pairs advanced deep into the tournament at Timberhill Tennis Club.
 
The Vikings claimed three of the four semifinal spots in both the singles and doubles draws Saturday, assuring themselves of at least having one team play for the title in both draws Sunday.
 
First in singles, all five Vikings opened the day with wins in their second round matches, giving Portland State five of the eight slots in the quarterfinals of the draw.
 
Senior Stuart Tierney and juniors Matt Pronesti and Wil Cochrane all played nearly perfect matches in the second round, as all three only dropped one game each. Tierney, the third seed in the singles draw, beat Leo Young, a tennis pro at the Ashland Tennis & Fitness Club, 6-1, 6-0 in the second round, while the fourth-seeded Cochrane beat George Fox's Tristen Lerma 6-0, 6-1, and the sixth-seeded Pronesti beat Pacific University's Wes Upton 6-0, 6-1.
 
Junior Brent Wheeler and sophomore Ethan Lopez won their second-round matches in straight sets as well, as Lopez upset eighth-seeded Nicholas Grafton of George Fox, 6-2, 6-1, while the fifth-seeded Wheeler beat Hope International's Andrew You 6-1, 6-3.
 
Wheeler then pulled the big upset in the quarterfinals, as he upset second-seeded Chris Lilley of George Fox, winning a second-set tiebreaker to take the match 6-2, 7-6 (3).
 
Wheeler will now face George Fox's Spencer Watanabe in the semifinals at 9 a.m. Sunday, after Watanabe upset PSU's Cochrane with a 6-1, 6-4 win in the quarterfinals.
 
Lopez, meanwhile, faced off against Pacific University's Grayson Frazier in the quarterfinals, after Frazier upset the top seed in the tournament the round before. Frazier rode that upset to an early lead against Lopez with a 6-3 first-set win, but Lopez bounced back with dominant performances in the second and third sets to complete a 3-6, 6-1, 6-2 comeback win.
 
Lopez will now face off against his PSU teammate, Pronesti, in the semifinals at 9 a.m. Sunday, after Pronesti bounced his fellow Viking, Tierney, in the quarterfinals. Pronesti posted a dominant win over Tierney in advancing to the semifinals, beating him 6-1, 6-2.
 
After the semifinals, the Vikings are assured of having at least one player advance to the championship match later in the day Sunday, which will be played at 12 p.m.
 
The Vikings already know who will represent them in the championship match of the doubles draw, as Tierney and junior Ian Risenhoover advanced to the final after recording a pair of wins Saturday.
 
All three Viking doubles teams won their first matches of the day Saturday, giving the Vikings three of the four slots in the semifinals of the tournament. Risenhoover and Tierney opened their day with a 6-4, 6-1 upset win over the third-seeded doubles team of Lilley and Chace Stalcup of George Fox, while Lopez and Wheeler and Cochrane and Pronesti cruised in their respective quaterfinal matches, only dropping five games combined between them.
 
Lopez and Wheeler beat Colby Jager, a University of Portland alum, and Sam Larson, a prep player from Corvallis, Ore., in their quarterfinal match, winning 6-1, 6-1. Cochrane and Pronesti, meanwhile, beat John Dix and Leo Young, senior players from Ashland, Ore., 6-1, 6-2, in their quarterfinal match.
 
Cochrane and Pronesti then faced off against their teammates, Risenhoover and Tierney, in the semifinals, following Risenhoover and Tierney's upset in the round before. Cochrane and Pronesti, the second-seeded team in the doubles draw, took the first set from Risenhoover and Tierney, 6-4, but Risenhoover and Tierney bounced back in the second set, leveling the match with a 6-3 set win. The match went to a super tiebreaker after that, with Risenhoover and Tierney narrowly prevailing, 11-9, to win the match 4-6, 6-3, 11-9.
 
Risenhoover and Tierney will now face the top-seeded doubles team in Andrew Pritchard and Pannhara Mam, a pair of senior players who eliminated Lopez and Wheeler with a 6-3, 4-6, 10-4 win in the semifinals, in the championship match at 2 p.m. Sunday.
 
Junior Nate Chart was also in action in the singles back draw Saturday, but fell 6-2, 6-3 to Pacific University's Reuben Mulhern in his first match of the day.