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SPOKANE, Wash. — The Portland State men's tennis team fell 1-6 to Gonzaga Saturday despite several close matches in doubles and singles.
 
The Vikings (1-5) were leading in their No. 1 and No. 2 doubles matches, but lost each in tiebreakers. Junior Brent Wheeler and sophomore Ian Risenhoover lost 5-7 in their tiebreaker against Gonzaga's Jack Schoebel and Muzeen Ismath, while junior Alec Marx and sophomore Wil Cochrane lost 6-8 in their tiebreaker against Gonzaga's Vladimir Mijatovic and Joey Brandt.
 
The Vikings would have started the match up 1-0 if they had won both tiebreakers, but instead fell behind the Bulldogs (5-1) going into singles.
 
Portland State did not find much luck in tiebreakers in singles, either, as Risenhoover and Marx each lost tiebreakers in their singles matches against the Bulldogs. Marx lost an extremely competitive super tiebreaker, 9-11, in his match against Ismath at No. 5 singles, and lost 1-6, 6-3, 0-1 (9-11). Risenhoover, meanwhile, lost a first-set tiebreaker in his match against Schoebel at No. 4 singles and eventually fell 5-6, 2-6.
 
"The team competed extremely hard today," PSU head coach Toby Krauel said. "Despite the loss, we are moving in the right direction and continue to improve."
 
The Vikings lone point in the match came at No. 3 singles, where freshman Kacper Stelmaszak beat Brandt in straight sets, 6-3, 6-3. The win came in Stelmaszak's first action since the opening weekend of the season, and moved the freshman to 2-1 in singles this season, and 2-0 at No. 3.
 
"Huge win for Kacper today, getting back in the lineup," Krauel said. "He played extremely hard and came through with a quality win."
 
Besides Stelmaszak, Wheeler fell 1-6, 2-6 to Mijatovic at No. 1 singles, while Cochrane fell 2-6, 4-6 to Kamisar at No. 2 singles. Pike, meanwhile, was trailing 2-5 in his match at No. 6 singles when he was forced to retire due to injury.
 
The Vikings will look to snap their two-match losing streak in their match, Saturday, Feb. 22, when they face Air Force on the road at 11 a.m. (MT). The Vikings will then open Big Sky play with a road match against Northern Colorado the next day, Feb. 23, at 9 a.m.
 
Match Notes: Wheeler and Risenhoover's doubles loss Saturday was their third loss in a tiebreaker this season…Wheeler and Risenhoover have not lost a match that did not go to a tiebreaker yet this season…Two of Marx's three losses this season have come in a third set or super tiebreaker, and the junior leads the team with three singles wins this season.



Gonzaga 6, Portland State 1
Feb 15, 2014 at Spokane, Wash.

Singles competition

1. MIJATOVIC, Vladimir (GU) def. WHEELER, Brent (PSU) 6-1, 6-2

2. KAMISAR, Nick (GU) def. COCHRANE, Wil (PSU) 6-2, 6-4

3. STELMASZAK, Kacper (PSU) def. BRANDT, Joey (GU) 6-3, 6-3

4. SCHOEBEL, Jack (GU) def. RISENHOOVER, Ian (PSU) 6-5, 6-2

5. ISMATH, Muzeen (GU) def. MARX, Alec (PSU) 6-1, 3-6, 1-0 (11-9)

6. MOSQUERA PEREZ (GU) def. PIKE, Jonathan (PSU) 5-2, retired

Doubles competition

1. SCHOEBEL, Jack/ISMATH, Muzeen (GU) def. WHEELER, Brent/RISENHOOVER, Ian (PSU) 6-5 (7-5)

2. MIJATOVIC, Vladimir/BRANDT, Joey (GU) def. MARX, Alec/COCHRANE, Wil (PSU) 6-5 (8-6)

3. KAMISAR, Nick/MOSQUERA PEREZ (GU) def. STELMASZAK, Kacper/PIKE, Jonathan (PSU) 6-2

Match Notes

Portland State 1-5

Gonzaga 5-1

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