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VANCOUVER, Wash. — The Portland State men's tennis team couldn't avoid a familiar late-season storyline Saturday, as the Vikings won the doubles point against Idaho State, only to lose the dual 5-2 in the team's season finale.
 
The Vikings (5-17, 2-8 Big Sky) won the doubles point in each of their last four matches of the season, but lost all four of those matches, including the loss against the Bengals (5-12, 3-7 Big Sky).
 
Bad luck in close, three-set singles losses haunted the Vikings over the latter part of the season, and they were a problem again Saturday. The Vikings had been 2-7 in three-set matches over their last three dual matches, and the team lost three three-set matches again Saturday, when wins in two of the three could have given the Vikings the dual win.
 
Junior Brent Wheeler and senior Abhinav Mishra lost in three sets at No. 1 and 4 singles, respectively, after each won the first set of their match. Wheeler won the first set against Idaho State's Jamey Swiggart, 7-5, but then dropped the next two sets to lose 5-7, 6-3, 6-2. Mishra, meanwhile, took the first set off of Idaho State's Josh Goodwin, 6-2, only to end up losing 2-6, 6-2, 6-1.
 
Sophomore Ian Risenhoover also lost a tight, three-set match Saturday, as Idaho State's Daniel Loebel beat Risenhoover 7-5 in the decisive third-set of their match at No. 3, giving him the 6-3, 4-6, 7-5 win over Risenhoover.
 
The Bengals took two of the three matches that were decided in straight sets, too, as Krzysztof Stempien beat PSU sophomore Wil Cochrane 6-2, 6-3 at No. 2, while Bjorn Scheepbouwer beat PSU junior Alec Marx 6-3, 6-3 at No. 5. Freshman Jonathan Pike won his match at No. 6 for the Vikings, however, beating Idaho State's Cody Miller 6-4, 6-4.
 
Doubles were a bright spot for the Vikings Saturday, as Wheeler and Risenhoover beat Swiggart and Loebel 8-4 at No. 1, while Cochrane and sophomore Nate Chart beat Goodwin and Miller 8-6 at No. 3 doubles. Mishra and Marx were also leading 6-5 in their match against Stempien and Scheepbouwer at No. 2 doubles when the match was called after the Vikings wrapped up the doubles point.
 
Mishra and Marx had won six of their seven matches this season going into the match against the Bengals, while the Vikings closed the season having won the doubles point in seven of their final eight matches of the season.
 
Saturday's loss ends the Vikings' season at 5-17 overall and 2-8 in the Big Sky. The team will return to action in the fall for tournament play.


Idaho State 5, Portland State 2
Apr 19, 2014 at Vancouver, Wash. (Club Green Meadows)

Singles competition

1. SWIGGART, Jamey (ISU) def. WHEELER, Brent (PSU) 5-7, 6-3, 6-2

2. STEMPIEN, Krzysztof (ISU) def. COCHRANE, Wil (PSU) 6-2, 6-3

3. LOEBEL, Daniel (ISU) def. RISENHOOVER, Ian (PSU) 6-3, 4-6, 7-5

4. GOODWIN, Josh (ISU) def. MISHRA, Abhinav (PSU) 2-6, 6-2, 6-1

5. SCHEEPBOUWER, Bjorn (ISU) def. MARX, Alec (PSU) 6-3, 6-3

6. PIKE, Jonathan (PSU) def. MILLER, Cody (ISU) 6-4, 6-4

Doubles competition

1. WHEELER, Brent/RISENHOOVER, Ian (PSU) def. SWIGGART, Jamey/LOEBEL, Daniel (ISU) 8-4

2. MISHRA, Abhinav/MARX, Alec (PSU) vs. STEMPIEN, Krzysztof/SCHEEPBOUWER, Bjorn (ISU) 6-5, unfinished

3. COCHRANE, Wil/CHART, Nate (PSU) def. GOODWIN, Josh/MILLER, Cody (ISU) 8-6

Match Notes

Idaho State 5-12, 3-7 BSC

Portland State 5-17, 2-8 BSC