PORTLAND, Ore. - With nearly a month's passing since its last match, the Portland State men's tennis program will stay in the Rose City this weekend, hosting Idaho State Friday night and taking on crosstown rival Portland Saturday morning.
The match against the Bengals will be played at 7 p.m. at Mountain Park Racquet Club, while the Pilots match will be played at Louisiana-Pacific Tennis Center on the campus of UP at 10 a.m.
Last time in action, the Vikings fell to Northern Arizona in Flagstaff, Ariz., by a 7-0 margin. Only the No. 2 doubles pair of
Mitch Somach and
Alex VanDerschelden were able to pull off a victory in the match, defeating David Flodberg and Robin Pezzutto, 8-5.
The Vikings will enter Friday's contest with a 4-7 overall record and a 1-3 register in Big Sky play with the lone win against Northern Colorado, 7-0. The team led in wins, five, is split three-ways by
Vetu Mam,
Mitch Somach and
Alex VanDerschelden. Of the three players, Mam leads in win percentage at 5-4.
ISU is currently 3-11 overall this season and 0-3 in Big Sky play. Of its three wins, two of Idaho State's victories were against SeattleU while the other occurred against College of Idaho. Nate Gross is the Bengals leader in wins (nine) and winning percentage this season (.643). Diego Cavalcanti is second in wins with seven.
The Pilots have had some success this spring at 8-4 and are currently on a three-match skid, dropping matches to Oregon (7-0), Texas-San Antonio (5-2) and Dartmouth (4-3). UP has played five matches against Big Sky opponents and have won all meetings against those teams, including a win over conference leader Sacramento State.
Portland has two solid players in the middle of the lineup in Ratan Gill and Michel Hu Kwo who have records of 9-3 and 10-2, respectively. The two have bounced between Nos. 3-5. Alex Ferrero is the Pilots No. 1 player and boasts a 5-4 record at that spot.
Following this weekend's activities, the Viks will play two Big Sky matches in Montana, facing off against Montana State April 9 and Montana on April 10.
