POCATELLO, Idaho – The Portland State men's tennis team (4-5, 0-2) competed in its first Big Sky road contest but faltered against Idaho State,  6-1, in Pocatello, Idaho, on Saturday morning. The loss drops the Viks to 0-2 in the Big Sky.

Idaho State took a quick lead in doubles play as the team of Stratton Gilmore and Lukas Kortus couldn't find answers against the duo of Krystoff Stempien and Andres Coello from the No. 3 spot, losing 8-3. Connor Gilmore and Ian Risenhoover followed suit falling by the same score at the No. 2 position, falling to Christian Marian and Jamey Swiggart.

The Portland State tandem of Antoine Bechmann and Abhinav Mishra, on the other hand, gave the duo of Charles Norman and Nate Gross everything they could handle, outlasting the Bengals tandem, 8-5. The win for the PSU duo makes them 4-0 since joining together in doubles play and 2-0 in conference.

Idaho State, already up 1-0, went to work in singles play, pushing its lead to 2-0 as Stempien defeated Wil Cochrane, 6-1, 6-3.

The Viks' defcit increased to 3-0 when Bechmann fell in straight sets to Marian in the No. 1 spot, 6-2, 6-2.

The match was clinched by Idaho State on court No. 4 as Connor Gilmore fell in a close battle, nearly edging Norman in the first set, dropping it 6-4 and coming up short in the second, 6-2.

Stratton Gilmore showed grit and determination in the No. 2 spot, coming back from being edged 6-4 in the first set to win the second frame by the same score. With the match already decided, the contest went to a 10-point tiebreaker. Gilmore continued to fight, despite falling behind 4-0 to come back and tie it. The two traded points but eventually Gilmore was bested, 10-7.

In the No. 5 spot Kortus struggled to find rhythm dropping his match to Swiggart, 6-2, 6-1 as Idaho State took a 6-0 lead.

In what was PSU's most dominant singles performance, Brent Wheeler played a crafty match manufacturing key points at key times, taking the first set 6-2. In the second frame Wheeler continued to show poise, jumping out to lead to 5-3. With the game at match-point, Wheeler lunged to return a shot and fell to the court after twisting an ankle. After a few moments being attended to by his coaching staff, Wheeler was able to continue in the match. The sophomore wasted no time, coming back and clinching his match the next point, to win the contest, 6-2, 6-3.

Portland State will wrap up its two-match road swing tomorrow morning when it visits Ogden, Utah to play the Wildcats of Weber State. The match is slated for 10 a.m.