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GRAND FORKS, N.D. — The Portland State men's tennis team opened its six-week road trip on the right foot, beating North Dakota 5-2 Saturday at the Choice Health & Fitness club.
 
The win builds on the Vikings' historic win over Montana last Saturday, and brings the Vikings back up to .500 in Big Sky play at 2-2 on the back of a two-match win streak.
 
The Vikings (4-4, 2-2 Big Sky) picked up the win in familiar fashion Saturday, as they got out to an early lead against UND (3-3, 0-1 Big Sky) by winning the doubles point, and then closed things out with wins at four of the six lines in singles.
 
The Vikings' win in doubles gives them their fourth straight doubles-point victory to start Big Sky play, as they now stand a perfect 4-0 in doubles in conference matches this season.
 
UND made things tight at each line Saturday, though, as all three matches were decided by 6-4 scores. Juniors Matt Pronesti and Wil Cochrane beat UND's Dustin Britton and Simon Danyluk 6-4 at line two, but UND's Connor Oberle and David Bergstrom leveled things again within doubles with their 6-4 win over the Vikings' Stuart Tierney and Ian Risenhoover at line one.
 
Sophomore Ethan Lopez and junior Brent Wheeler came through for the Vikings at line three, however, as they beat UND's Hunter Oothoudt and Matt Fuka, 6-4. Lopez and Wheeler are now a perfect 4-0 in Big Sky play as a doubles team, and have won five of their seven matches overall together at line three.
 
The Vikings then closed things out quickly in singles, as they won the first three singles matches to clinch the dual with three matches still in play. Tierney started things off for the Vikings with a 6-2, 6-1 win over Britton at line one, while Risenhoover followed with a 6-0, 6-4 win over UND's Ty Misialek at line six. Risenhoover's win at line six represents a break through for the junior, as it snapped a nine-match losing streak for Risenhoover, and marked just his second straight-sets win of the 2014-15 season.
 
Lopez, meanwhile, closed things out for the Vikings with his win at line two, as he beat Oberle convincingly, 6-2, 6-1. Lopez and Tierney now each have 3-1 records in singles in Big Sky play for the Vikings, tying them for the best records on the team.
 
UND came back with straight-set wins at lines three and four, but Cochrane rounded things out with a comeback win over Danyluk at line five. Danyluk won the first set against Cochrane, 6-3, but Cochrane came back with a 6-3 win in the second set. Cochrane then pulled out an extremely tight match tiebreaker, 12-10, to claim the match and give the Vikings their fifth point in the dual.
 
The Vikings will now hope to continue their two-match winning streak on a two-match swing through Colorado next weekend. The Vikings play at Colorado College at 3 p.m. (MT) on March 6, and then return to Big Sky play with a match at Northern Colorado at 1 p.m. (MT) on March 7.
 
Match Notes: The Vikings improve to 3-0 all-time against UND, including a 2-0 record in North Dakota…The Vikings' two wins in Big Sky play this season already match the team's total from all of 2014.


Portland State 5, North Dakota 2
Feb 28, 2015 at Grand Forks, N.D. (Choice Health & Fitness) 

Singles competition

1. TIERNEY, Stuart (PSU) def. BRITTON, Dustin (UND) 6-2, 6-1

2. LOPEZ, Ethan (PSU) def. OBERLE, Connor (UND) 6-2, 6-1

3. BERGSTROM, David (UND) def. PRONESTI, Matt (PSU) 6-4, 6-1

4. LEE, Joe (UND) def. WHEELER, Brent (PSU) 6-4, 6-3

5. COCHRANE, Wil (PSU) def. DANYLUK, Simon (UND) 3-6, 6-3, 1-0 (12-10)

6. RISENHOOVER, Ian (PSU) def. MISIALEK, Ty (UND) 6-0, 6-4

 

Doubles competition

1. OBERLE, Connor/BERGSTROM, David (UND) def. TIERNEY, Stuart/RISENHOOVER, Ian (PSU) 6-4

2. PRONESTI, Matt/COCHRANE, Wil (PSU) def. BRITTON, Dustin/DANYLUK, Simon (UND) 6-4

3. LOPEZ, Ethan/WHEELER, Brent (PSU) def. OOTHOUDT, Hunter/FUKA, Matt (UND) 6-4

 

Match Notes

Portland State 4-4, 2-2 BSC

North Dakota 3-3, 0-1 BSC

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