Complete match notes (PDF)

PORTLAND, Ore. — The Portland State men's tennis team (5-10, 2-5 Big Sky) returns home after six weeks on the road for a Big Sky match against Eastern Washington this Friday. The Vikings will host the Eagles at 2 p.m. (PT) at Club Green Meadows in Vancouver, Wash.
 
SCOUTING EASTERN WASHINGTON:
The Eastern Washington Eagles (4-13, 2-5 Big Sky) have lost nine of their last 10 matches going into their match against Vikings, but rank tied for eighth in the conference with the Vikings at 2-5 in Big Sky play. The Eagles beat Northern Colorado 5-2 in their Big Sky opener on Feb. 20, and then beat Southern Utah 7-0 on the road on March 23. Sophomore Robert Dula, an All-Big Sky first-team selection last season, has led the Eagles at line one this season. Dula has a 5-10 record at line one, and has a 5-8 record with junior Eduardo Martinez at line one in doubles. Besides Dula, junior Eduardo Bringold leads the Eagles with an 8-8 record overall during the dual season, including a team-best 4-3 mark in Big Sky play. The Eagles also have an 11-9 combined record in doubles in Big Sky play this season.
 
ALL-TIME SERIES VERSUS EASTERN WASHINGTON:
The Eagles have won 11 of the 14 matches between them and the Vikings, including the last five straight. The Vikings came close to beating the Eagles last season, though, as the Eagles narrowly pulled out a 4-3 win over the Vikings even though the Vikings won the doubles point.
 
VIKINGS SWEPT IN LAS VEGAS:
The Vikings lost three matches in Las Vegas last week, losing to Mesa CC, Grand Canyon and Seattle on March 23-25. The Vikings narrowly lost to Mesa, 4-3, and also lost a close match to Seattle, 5-2, after losing to Grand Canyon, 6-1.
 
LOOKING AHEAD:
The Vikings stay home for a match against Sacramento State next Saturday. The Vikings will host the Hornets at 2 p.m. (PT) at Club Green Meadows in Vancouver, Wash.
 
TIERNEY RIDING HOT STREAK:
Senior Stuart Tierney was a bright spot for the Vikings in their recent trip to Las Vegas, as the senior won all three of his singles matches on the trip. Tierney has now won eight of his last 10 matches going into the Vikings' match against Eastern Washington this weekend. Tierney now leads the Vikings with an 8-5 record during the dual season, and has the best record on the team at line one (3-4) and line two (5-1).
 
CLOSE LOSSES:
Closes losses have really hurt the Vikings lately in Big Sky play, as the Vikings have lost two of their last three Big Sky matches by 4-3 scores. The Vikings had been 2-2 in the Big Sky before losing two straight 4-3 decisions to Northern Colorado and Idaho State, and now stand at 2-5 in conference play. The Vikings have been bitten by close losses throughout their Big Sky schedule, though, as three of the team's five conference losses have come via 4-3 scores, while the Vikings also lost another close match to preseason conference favorite Idaho, 5-2.
 
AS DOUBLES GOES, SO GOES THE VIKINGS:
The Vikings have lost the doubles point in five of their six recent losses, as the team's rise and fall in doubles has often mirrored the team's success and failure this season. The Vikings won the doubles point in seven of their first nine matches while starting the season 5-4. Since then, however, the Vikings have lost the doubles point in five straight matches, and take a six-match losing streak into their match against the Eagles. Overall, the Vikings are 5-3 when winning the doubles point this season, and 0-7 when they lose it.
 
RECORD SETTERS:
A number of Vikings have put themselves on the verge of breaking single-season records at Portland State this season. Senior Stuart Tierney and sophomore Ethan Lopez each have eight wins during the dual season, tying them for the fifth-best single-season win total in program history. The pair will move into a tie for the third-best single-season win total with one more win, and are three more wins from tying the second-best single-season win total. Tierney's 8-5 record during the dual season also gives him a win percentage of .615 this season, which would give him the third-best single-season win percentage if the season ended today. Lopez and junior Brent Wheeler, meanwhile, each rank three wins behind the record of 10 wins at line three in doubles. Additionally, junior Ian Risenhoover now has 26 wins in his Portland State doubles career, ranking him tied for fourth all-time and six wins behind all-time leader Alex VanDerschelden, who had 32 career wins from 2008-11.
 
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.