Complete match notes with statistics (PDF)

PORTLAND, Ore. — The Portland State men's tennis team (2-2, 0-1 Big Sky) continues its six-match home stand with a pair of matches against Montana State and Portland this weekend. The Vikings host Montana State in a Big Sky match Friday at 2 p.m. (PT) at Club Green Meadows in Vancouver, Wash. The team will then host cross-town rival Portland Saturday at 5:30 p.m. (PT) at West Hills Racquet and Fitness Club in Portland, Ore.
 
SCOUTING MONTANA STATE:
The Vikings' match against the Montana State Bobcats (1-3, 1-0 Big Sky) Friday will go a long way in determining the teams that qualify for the Big Sky Tournament at the end of the season. The Bobcats and Vikings were picked to finish sixth and seventh, respectively, in the Big Sky in the preseason coaches poll, and the top six teams in the conference qualify for the conference tournament. The Bobcats also started Big Sky play with a quality road win at Northern Colorado Sunday, beating the Bears 5-2 to open up at 1-0 in conference play this season. The Vikings, meanwhile, enter Friday's match 0-1 in Big Sky play after their loss to Idaho on Jan. 30, making Friday's match a must win for the Vikings if they don't want to fall two matches behind Montana State in the Big Sky standings. The Bobcats return a lot of talent from last season, especially in senior Niklas Brandes, who returns as a three-time All-Big Sky first-team selection. Brandes earned his third straight All-Big Sky first-team honor after recording a 6-2 record at No. 1 singles. Brandes has been playing at line two in singles so far this season, and has a 2-1 record in that position. Javier Martin Morillas and Kellen Bates also have 2-1 records at line three and five, respectively. Bates and Harry James also have a 2-1 record at line two in doubles, as they account for two of the team's three total doubles wins so far this season.
 
ALL-TIME SERIES VERSUS MONTANA STATE:
The Vikings are just 1-8 all-time against Montana State, with their only win coming 5-2 at home in 2010. The Vikings have lost five straight matches to the Bobcats since then, including a 7-0 loss at home last season.
 
SCOUTING PORTLAND:
The Portland Pilots (2-0) had a hot start to their 2015 dual season, as they beat Seattle 7-0 on Jan. 24, then came back with a 4-3 win over then-No. 68 East Tennessee State the next day. The Pilots won four of the six singles matches in their win over East Tennessee State, as they came back after dropping a doubles point to the Buccaneers. The Pilots' match against the Vikings will be their first match since their win over East Tennessee State, which will be three weeks ago by the time of the match Saturday. Overall, the Pilots have a relatively young roster this season, as seven of the team's 10 players are freshmen or sophomores, with six of those seven being freshmen. The Pilots lost four seniors off last year's team that went 13-9 overall, including All-WCC first-team selection Michel Hu Kwo. The Pilots' seniors led last year's team to an 81st national ranking at the end of the season, while head coach Aaron Gross was named the WCC Coach of the Year.
 
ALL-TIME SERIES VERSUS PORTLAND:
The Vikings have never beaten their cross-town rivals in the Pilots, as they are 0-7 all-time against them. The Pilots have won each match handedly, too, as they have won the seven previous matches in the series by a combined score of 46-3.
 
VIKINGS SPLIT WEEKEND AGAINST IDAHO, HAWAII HILO:
The Vikings last played two weekends ago, when they split a pair of matches against Idaho and Hawaii Hilo. The Vikings opened Big Sky play against Idaho on Jan. 30, challenging the conference-favorite Vandals before losing 5-2. The Vikings won the doubles point against the Vandals, but then lost five of the six singles matches to lose the dual overall. The Vikings came back with a near sweep of Hawaii Hilo on Feb. 2, however, as they won all three doubles matches in the dual, as well as the top five singles matches.
 
ETHAN LOPEZ EMERGING AS A STAR:
Sophomore transfer Ethan Lopez has quickly emerged as a reliable player for the Vikings, having won his last three singles matches, and five of his last six. Additionally, Lopez made his debut at line one for the Vikings in the team's last match, and beat Hawaii Hilo's Kainoa Rosa 7-6 (6), 6-1 for his first win at the top spot. Lopez has also gone 4-2 with junior Brent Wheeler at line three doubles.
 
COCHRANE, PRONESTI GETTING HOT:
Juniors Wil Cochrane and Matt Pronesti have won three straight doubles matches for the Vikings, and have a 3-1 record during the 2015 dual season. Cochrane and Pronesti have been a force together since they teamed up together in the fall, as they won the second flight of the PNW Intercollegiates doubles draw in their first tournament together, and have won seven of their nine matches together overall.
 
VIKINGS SWEEP SINGLES, DOUBLES TITLES AT CORVALLIS INDOOR TENNIS CHAMPIONSHIPS:
The Vikings had one of the most dominant weekends in program history last weekend, as they swept the singles and doubles titles at the Corvallis Indoor Tennis Championships. The Vikings' Matt Pronesti won the singles title at the tournament, while Stuart Tierney and Ian Risenhoover won the doubles title. The Vikings played well throughout the draw, though, as they claimed three of the four semifinals spots in both the singles and doubles draws, and claimed five of the eight quarterfinal spots in the singles draw. Additionally, the Vikings had two players reach the final, as junior Brent Wheeler made the championship match opposite Pronesti.
 
INFLUX OF TRANSFERS:
The Vikings will enter the 2015 dual season with four newcomers, all of whom came to the Vikings as transfers during the summer. Senior Stuart Tierney and sophomore Nacor Ibanez each came to the Vikings from Lipscomb University, while junior Matt Pronesti and sophomore Ethan Lopez joined the Vikings from Merrimack College and Fresno State, respectively. For Tierney and Pronesti, their transfer to Portland State marks a return to the state of Oregon for each of them, as Tierney hails from Hillsboro, Ore., while Pronesti grew up in Medford, Ore., and played junior doubles tournaments with his new Portland State teammate Wil Cochrane.
 
A TEAM FULL OF OREGONIANS:
With senior Stuart Tierney and junior Matt Pronesti joining the Vikings as transfers over the summer, the Vikings now have five native Oregonians on their roster for the 2015 dual season. Tierney grew up in Hillsboro before joining the Vikings, while Pronesti grew up in Medford, near where junior Wil Cochrane grew up in Ashland. Besides them, junior Brent Wheeler came to the Vikings out of Salem, Ore., while junior Ian Risenhoover grew up in Tualatin, Ore., and went to high school in West Linn.
 
FALL SEASON RECAP:
The Vikings' four newcomers helped the team post a standout fall season in 2014, as the Vikings posted a 25-30 combined singles record and 13-12 combined doubles record over three tournaments in the fall. The highlight of the fall came in the team's final tournament of the season, as juniors Wil Cochrane and Matt Pronesti won the second flight of the main doubles draw at the PNW Intercollegiates in November, the first main draw doubles title by a Viking team since 2010. Additionally, five players finished with .500 records in singles or better during the fall, while four players had winning records.