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VANCOUVER, Wash. — Sophomore Ethan Lopez cruised to wins in singles and doubles, but the Portland State men's tennis team lost 6-1 to Eastern Washington Friday at Club Green Meadows.
 
The Eagles (5-13, 3-5 Big Sky) won the doubles point from the Vikings (5-11, 2-6 Big Sky) despite Lopez and junior Brent Wheeler's win at line two, and then won five of the six singles matches.
 
The Eagles narrowly pulled out the doubles point over the Vikings, as the team's split the matches at lines two and three, and went into a tiebreaker at line one. Lopez and Wheeler beat Eastern Washington's Vuk Vuckovic and Wacil Bendjelti 6-3 at line two, setting up the decisive match at line one. Eastern Washington's Robert Dula and Eduardo Martinez pulled out a tight, 7-5 win in the tiebreaker at line one, however, sealing the doubles point for the Eagles.
 
The doubles-point victory put the Vikings in a hole they would not recover from, as only Lopez pulled out a win in singles.
 
Lopez sailed to a 6-1, 6-3 win over Martinez at line two, giving the sophomore his ninth win of the dual season. Lopez now ranks tied for the third-best single-season win total in program history with his nine wins this season, and will move into a tie for second with two more wins.
 
Wheeler nearly followed Lopez with a win at line four, as he rolled to a 6-1 win in the first set of his match against Eastern Washington's Wacil Bendjelti. Bendjelti came back in the second set, however, rallying late to level the match with a 7-5 set win. Bendjelti then continued his momentum in the third set, beating Wheeler 6-3 to complete his comeback.
 
Junior Ian Risenhoover tried mounting his own comeback at line five, as he shook off a 6-0 loss in the first set of his match against Eastern Washington's Eduardo Bringold with a 6-3 win in the second set. Risenhoover's win in the second set leveled the match at a set all, but Bringold recovered to win the decisive third set, 6-1.
 
The Vikings will now look to snap their seven-match losing streak in their next match, as the Vikings close out their 2015 home schedule with a match against Sacramento State at Club Green Meadows on April 11.
 
Eastern Washington 6, Portland State 1
Apr 03, 2015 at Vancouver, Wash. (Club Green Meadows) 

Singles competition

1. DULA, Robert (EWU) def. TIERNEY, Stuart (PSU) 6-1, 6-2

2. LOPEZ, Ethan (PSU) def. MARTINEZ, Eduardo (EWU) 6-1, 6-3

3. VUCKOVIC, Vuk (EWU) def. COCHRANE, Wil (PSU) 6-4, 6-3

4. BENDJELTI, Wacil (EWU) def. WHEELER, Brent (PSU) 1-6, 7-5, 6-3

5. BRINGOLD, Eduardo (EWU) def. RISENHOOVER, Ian (PSU) 6-0, 3-6, 6-1

6. FARRAR, Stefan (EWU) def. CHART, Nate (PSU) 6-3, 6-3

 

Doubles competition

1. DULA, Robert/MARTINEZ, Eduardo (EWU) def. TIERNEY, Stuart/RISENHOOVER, Ian (PSU) 7-6 (7-5)

2. LOPEZ, Ethan/WHEELER, Brent (PSU) def. VUCKOVIC, Vuk/BENDJELTI, Wacil (EWU) 6-3

3. BRINGOLD, Eduardo/FARRAR, Stefan (EWU) def. COCHRANE, Wil/CHART, Nate (PSU) 6-4

 

Match Notes

Eastern Washington 5-13, 3-5 BSC

Portland State 5-11, 2-6 BSC