Opening Serve
Portland State men's tennis continues its six-match home stand this coming weekend with three scheduled matches in four days. On Friday the Viks welcome Seattle to Club Green Meadows in Vancouver, Wash., while on Saturday they open up their Big Sky slate with a match against Montana State. The Vikings conclude their three-contest stretch with UC Davis on Monday. Friday's match is scheduled for a 5 p.m. start, while it's a 1 p.m. start on Saturday and an 11:30 a.m. start time on Monday.
 
Last Time Out
The Viks got on the board with their first win of the season against Willamette last Sunday, defeating the Bearcats, 6-1. Portland State won its first doubles point of the season and never looked back. The Viks also went 2-0 in doubles play and 5-1 in singles to improve to 1-2 on the season. Below is the boxscore from the event.
 

Singles competition

1. Wong, Joshua (WU) def. BECHMANN, Antoine (PSU) 6-4, 6-4

2. KORTUS, Lukas (PSU) def. Cooper, Will (WU) 7-6 (6-3), 6-3

3. GILMORE, Connor (PSU) def. Wexman, Sam (WU) 6-2, 6-0

4. GILMORE, Stratton (PSU) def. Dees, Mathew (WU) 6-2, 6-2

5. LUBEK, Zach (PSU) def. Schreiber, Jack (WU) 6-2, 1-6, 6-1

6. COCHRAINE, Wil (PSU) def. Yamaguchi, Colin (WU) 6-0, 6-1

 

Doubles competition

1. GILMORE, Connor/MISHRA, Abhinav (PSU) def. Wong, Joshua/Wexman, Sam (WU) 7-3

2. MARX, Alec/WHEELER, Brent (PSU) def. Cooper, Will/Dees, Mathew (WU) 8-2

3. BECHMANN, Antoine/LUBEK, Zach (PSU) def. Abney, Devin/Schreiber, Jack (WU) 8-3

 

Match Notes

Willamette 0-1

Portland State 1-2

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

 
 
Scouting the Redhawks
The Redhawks enter this weekend's contest 0-5 and have already had a taste of what the Big Sky has to offer. Seattle went on the road for the second time last weekend, as the team traveled to Colorado and fell to Montana State (5-2), Northern Colorado (5-2) and Air Force (6-1). The Redhawks have gone 6-6 overall in singles play and 5-7 in doubles so far in 2013. Zach Kosanke has the best singles mark so far for Seattle with a 2-2 mark from the No. 3 spot while Will Topp, has done splendidly from the No. 2 spot with a 2-1 mark, but has struggled in the No. 1 position with an 0-2 record.
 
Scouting the Bobcats
Montana State comes to Portland, Ore., after going 2-1 in its first weekend of action. The Bobcats defeated Seattle, 5-2, fell to Air Force, 6-1, but then got on the board with its first conference win against host Northern Colorado, 4-3, to finish up the weekend. In the team's latest win Niklas Brandes helped lead his team to key wins, recording a victory in the No. 1 spot in doubles play along with Diego Campos, while helping to spark a comeback in singles play, tallying a win from the No. 1 position, 5-7, 7-6 (8-6), 6-1. 
 
Scouting UC Davis
The Aggies finished their first weekend of play with a 1-2 record having defeated Sonoma State, 7-0, and falling to Santa Clara and Pacific, 6-1, 5-2, respectively. UC Davis is 8-10 overall in singles play while going 5-3 in dual matches. Kyle Miller has been the most productive singles player, going 2-1 from the No. 2 spot while Parker Kelly has also gone 2-1 from the No. 3 position. In doubles action the team of Alec Haley and Parker Kelly are undefeated with a 2-0 mark from the No. 2 position, while Adam Levie and Toki Sherbakov are 2-1 from the No. 1 doubles spot.
 
Leader in the Clubhouse
Stratton Gilmore has impressed in the few matches he played so far since coming from Indiana. Gilmore is the leader in wins in singles play for the Vikings as the Madison, Wisc., native has gone 2-1 through three matches. He earned his first against Gonzaga, tallying the Viks only singles victory and then won again against Willamette the following day.
 
Doubles Specialist
Antione Bechmann has looked like a doubles specialist so far this season as the junior has gone 2-1 in 2013. Bechmann recorded a win with Abhinav Mishra against Gonzaga last Saturday and recorded his second with Zach Lubek against Willamette on Sunday. Bechmann and Ian Risenhoover also gave Oregon a run for their money in the team's first match, falling by a close 8-5 score.