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POCATELLO, Idaho — The Portland State men's tennis team got snake bitten once again Friday, as the Vikings lost 4-3 to Idaho State for their second straight 4-3 loss in Big Sky play.
 
The Vikings (5-6, 2-4 Big Sky) also lost 4-3 to Northern Colorado last Saturday, and have now lost 4-3 in three of their four conference losses this season. Additionally, the Vikings only lost 5-2 to preseason conference favorite Idaho for their fourth Big Sky loss, as close losses have haunted the Vikings as they pursue their first berth into the Big Sky Tournament at the end of the season.
 
Doubles, typically the Vikings' strength, doomed the Vikings against the Bengals (2-3, 2-2 Big Sky) this time around, as the Bengals won a tight doubles point that proved decisive after the teams split the six singles matches. The Vikings had won the doubles point in all five of their previous Big Sky matches, as well as their last four matches overall, but had both streaks snapped Friday against the Bengals.
 
The Vikings and Bengals split a pair of 6-2 decisions at lines two and three, while the teams went into a tiebreaker at line one to decide the doubles point. The Bengals' Daniel Loebel and Bjorn Scheepbouwer eventually pulled out the tiebreaker over the Vikings' Stuart Tierney and Ian Risenhoover, giving the Bengals the critical early lead in the dual.
 
The doubles-point loss meant the Vikings needed to pull out four of the six singles matches to come back, and the Vikings nearly did it, winning their matches at lines one, two and six.
 
Sophomore Ethan Lopez won at line one for the Vikings, as he beat Loebel 7-5, 6-3 in his first match at line one while Tierney was also in the lineup since the Vikings' match against Montana State on Feb. 13.
 
Tierney, meanwhile, pulled out a close match against Idaho State's Krzsztof Stempien, 7-5, 7-5, at line two, giving the senior his third win in four matches against former All-Big Sky selections this season, as Stempien was an All-Big Sky second-team selection last season.
 
Risenhoover also won his fourth straight match after starting the dual season 0-6, as he shook off a second-set tiebreaker loss to beat Idaho State's Austin Miller 6-2, 6-7, 6-2.
 
However, the three wins still left the Vikings one short of completing the comeback, and the Bengals swept the rest of the matches at lines three, four and five.
 
Junior Wil Cochrane nearly gave the Vikings a fourth win in his match at line five, but fell in a first-set tiebreaker against Idaho State's Orin Duffin, and then narrowly lost the second set, 6-4.
 
The Vikings' loss to the Bengals leaves them at a frustrated 2-4 in Big Sky play, and gives added importance to the team's match against defending Big Sky regular-season champion Weber State Saturday. The Vikings face the Wildcats at 12 p.m. (MT) Saturday, when they'll hope to get back in the win column after two straight conference losses.
 
Match Notes: The Vikings fall to 3-9 all-time against Idaho State, as well as 1-8 on the road…The Vikings are 2-4 in Big Sky play after Friday's loss, but 21-21 in total points in those six matches due to all their close losses. 

Idaho State 4, Portland State 3
Mar 13, 2015 at Pocatello, Idaho 

Singles competition

1. LOPEZ, Ethan (PSU) def. LOEBEL, Daniel (ISU) 7-5, 6-3

2. TIERNEY, Stuart (PSU) def. STEMPIEN, Krzysztof (ISU) 7-5, 7-5

3. SCHEEPBOUWER, Bjorn (ISU) def. PRONESTI, Matt (PSU) 6-3, 6-3

4. GOODWIN, Josh (ISU) def. WHEELER, Brent (PSU) 6-2, 6-3

5. DUFFIN, Orin (ISU) def. COCHRANE, Wil (PSU) 7-6 (7-2), 6-4

6. RISENHOOVER, Ian (PSU) def. MILLER, Austin (ISU) 6-2, 6-7, 6-2

 

Doubles competition

1. LOEBEL, Daniel/SCHEEPBOUWER, Bjorn (ISU) def. TIERNEY, Stuart/RISENHOOVER, Ian (PSU) 7-6

2. STEMPIEN, Krzysztof/GOODWIN, Josh (ISU) def. PRONESTI, Matt/COCHRANE, Wil (PSU) 6-2

3. LOPEZ, Ethan/WHEELER, Brent (PSU) def. MILLER, Austin/MILLER, Cody (ISU) 6-2

 

Match Notes

Portland State 5-6, 2-4 BSC

Idaho State 2-3, 2-2 BSC