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OMAHA, Neb. — Junior Brent Wheeler won a decisive third-set tiebreaker for the Portland State men's tennis team, giving the Vikings the match-clinching point in a 4-3 dual win over Creighton Wednesday at the Hanscom Indoor Tennis Center.
 
Wheeler beat Creighton's Elliott Baker 7-5 in a winner-takes-all third-set tiebreaker, winning the match 7-5, 4-6, 7-6 (7-5) at No. 2 with the dual tied 3-3.
 
"It was a great team win today that came down to Brent in a third-set tiebreaker," PSU head coach Toby Kraul said. "It was 5-5 in the tiebreaker, and Brent stepped up to give the team the decisive fourth point and deliver the team a great road win over a strong Creighton team."
 
The Bluejays (8-4) had won six of their past seven matches going into the dual against the Vikings (3-12), but the Vikings came out firing, and took a 1-0 lead into singles after claiming the doubles point.
 
Creighton's Billy Paluch and Jake Norman beat Wheeler and sophomore Ian Risenhoover 8-4 at No. 1, but the Vikings claimed tight matches at No. 2 and 3 doubles to secure the early lead.
 
Senior Abhinav Mishra helped key the Vikings' doubles-point victory, as he made his season debut in an 8-5 win over Creighton's Nick Thompson and Harrison Lang at No. 3 doubles with junior Alec Marx. Sophomore Wil Cochrane and freshman Kacper Stelmaszak also came through in a tight match against Creighton's August Nysted and Elliott Baker at No. 2 doubles, winning 8-6.
 
The doubles-point win helped spur the Vikings in singles, where the teams played four three-set matches.
 
The Bluejays' Paluch beat Stelmaszak 6-1, 6-3 at No. 1 singles, while Cochrane beat Creighton's Jake Norman 6-4, 6-4 at No. 3 in the only two matches that finished in straight sets. Cochrane's straight-set win continues a hot streak for the Viking sophomore, as he has won three of his last four singles matches, all in straight sets.
 
Cochrane won both sets Wednesday by only two games, and the rest of the Vikings played tight sets in their singles matches as well. Eight of the 12 sets in the four three-set matches were decided by two games or less, including four sets that went to tiebreakers. Creighton's Aaron Chalstrom beat Mishra in the only three-set match that did not have a set decided by a tiebreaker, as he won 6-3, 3-6, 6-4 at No. 6 singles.
 
Marx, meanwhile, rallied after dropping a second-set tiebreaker in his match against Creighton's Harrison Lang at No. 5 to win 6-4, 6-7, 6-3.
 
Risenhoover did not have as much luck as Marx, as he lost back-to-back tiebreakers in the second and third sets of his match against Creighton's Quinn Dippel at No. 4, and lost 6-3, 6-7, 6-7 (5-7).
 
Dippel's tiebreaker win over Risenhoover leveled the dual at 3-3, but Wheeler came through in the most critical tiebreaker with his decisive win 7-5, 4-6, 7-6 (7-5) at No. 2.
 
Wednesday's win puts the Vikings off on a good foot as the match opened a four-match road trip in Nebraska and North Dakota. The Vikings will stay in Omaha, Neb., for their next match, as they play Nebraska Omaha Thursday, March 27, at 10 a.m. (CT).


Portland State 4, Creighton 3
Mar 26, 2014 at Omaha, Neb. (Hanscom Indoor Tennis Center) 

Singles competition

1. PALUCH, Billy (CU) def. STELMASZAK, Kacper (PSU) 6-1, 6-3

2. WHEELER, Brent (PSU) def. BAKER, Elliott (CU) 7-5, 4-6, 7-6 (7-5)

3. COCHRANE, Wil (PSU) def. NORMAN, Jake (CU) 6-4, 6-4

4. DIPPEL, Quinn (CU) def. RISENHOOVER, Ian (PSU) 3-6, 7-6, 7-6 (7-5)

5. MARX, Alec (PSU) def. LANG, Harrison (CU) 6-4, 6-7, 6-3

6. CHALSTROM, Aaron (CU) def. MISHRA, Abhinav (PSU) 6-3, 3-6, 6-4

Doubles competition

1. PALUCH, Billy/NORMAN, Jake (CU) def. RISENHOOVER, Ian/WHEELER, Brent (PSU) 8-4

2. COCHRANE, Wil/STELMASZAK, Kacper (PSU) def. NYSTED, August/BAKER, Elliott (CU) 8-6

3. MISHRA, Abhinav/MARX, Alec (PSU) def. THOMPSON, Nick/LANG, Harrison (CU) 8-5

Match Notes

Portland State 3-12

Creighton 8-4