Match Notes (PDF)

PORTLAND, Ore. — The Portland State men's tennis team returns to action after a promising season opener against the University of Portland last weekend, as the Vikings host Lewis-Clark State and Seattle this Friday and Saturday at Club Green Meadows in Vancouver, Wash.
 
The matches follow the Vikings' 6-1 loss to the cross-town Pilots in their season opener, a match in which the Vikings showed flashes of potential.
 
No Viking came across better in the match against the Pilots than sophomore transfer Nathan Boniel, who beat the Pilots' No. 1 player in Michail Pervolarakis, avenging an earlier loss to Pervolarakis in the fall. Boniel beat Pervolarakis 6-4, 4-6, 6-3, pulling out a high-quality, back-and-forth match at line one.
 
Boniel and Pervolarakis broke each other two times in the first set of their match, before Boniel broke Pervolarakis with Pervolarakis serving at 4-5 down, giving Boniel the first set. Pervolarakis withheld an early break to take the second set 6-4 and level the match, but Boniel used an early break of his own to run out to a 3-0 lead at the start of the third set. Boniel held onto the lead throughout the rest of the set, eventually closing out the win over Pervolarakis.
 
Senior Ian Risenhoover and junior transfer Scott Goldner also pulled out a quality win at line two in doubles, beating the Pilots' Alex Wallace and Pierre Garcia in a tiebreaker, 7-6 (3). Risenhoover and Goldner came back from a 40-love deficit to break Wallace and Garcia at 2-all and take an early lead in the match, but then got broken back as they were serving for the set at 5-4. Wallace and Garcia then held their next service game to go up 6-5, putting pressure on Risenhoover and Goldner to send the match to a tiebreaker. Risenhoover and Goldner handled that pressure, however, and then took an early 4-2 lead in the tiebreaker before closing it out, 7-3.
 
The Pilots still beat the Vikings 6-1, but the Vikings can now turn that promise into wins potentially against Lewis-Clark State and Seattle this weekend. Both matches start at 2 p.m. (PT).
 
NOTES FOR MATCHES AGAINST LEWIS-CLARK STATE AND SEATTLE
 
MATCH INFO:
Jan. 29 – vs. Lewis-Clark State – Vancouver, Wash. (Club Green Meadows) – 2 p.m.
Jan. 30 – vs. Seattle – Vancouver, Wash. (Club Green Meadows) – 2 p.m.
 
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Fans can follow the Portland State men's tennis team year round on Twitter at @ViksMTEN.
 
SCOUTING LEWIS-CLARK STATE:
• The Lewis-Clark State Warriors opened their season ranked 20th in the first NAIA top 25 released earlier this week
• The Warriors have already won a pair of matches this season, though they were way back in September when they swept back-to-back matches against the University of Alberta. The Warriors beat Alberta 5-4 on Sept. 18, and then beat them again, 6-3, on Sept. 19
• The Warriors have not played since their matches in September
• The Warriors are coming off a 4-10 record in 2015, with one of their losses being a 5-2 defeat at the hands of Portland State on Jan. 24
• The Vikings beat the Warriors in two of the three doubles matches in their match last year, and then took four of the six singles matches to claim the 5-2 victory
• The Vikings will return four of their six players from last year's match against the Warriors in Ethan Lopez, Brent Wheeler, Wil Cochrane and Ian Risenhoover, who went a combined 3-1 in their singles matches against the Warriors last year
• The Warriors return five of the six players who played against the Vikings last season in Yonas Woldestadik, Jeff Su, Andres Bustani, Sonam Phuntsok and Tony Chin
• Woldenstadik picked up one of the Warriors' two wins against the Vikings in singles last season, as he beat Portland State's Stuart Tierney at line one after Tierney retired following Woldenstadik's 6-2 win in the first set
• Tony Chin picked up the other win for the Warriors last season, beating the Vikings' Ian Risenhoover 6-2, 6-4 at line six
• The Warriors played a similar lineup to their match against the Vikings last year in their two matches against Alberta in September. Woldenstadik was still at line one and Chin at line six, while Su, Bustani and Phunstok were also in the lineup at No. 3, 4, 5, respectively, albeit one spot down from where they were last year as newcomer Quentin Wacquez slotted in at line two
• The Warriors mixed up their doubles teams between their two matches against Alberta, though Woldenstadik and Su remained at line one for both matches, just like they were in the Warriors' match against the Vikings last season
• The Warriors have a very international roster with all 10 of their players born outside of the United States, and from a widespread of countries including Mexico, Malaysia, Fran, Bolivia, India, Taiwan, Ecuador and Ethiopia
 
ALL-TIME SERIES VERSUS LEWIS-CLARK STATE:
The Vikings' 5-2 win over the Warriors last season gave them a 2-1 lead in the all-time series between the two teams. The Vikings also beat the Warriors 4-3 on the road in 2013 – the freshman season for current seniors Wil Cochrane, Ian Risenhoover and Brent Wheeler – while the Warriors won 5-2 on their home court in the teams' first match against each other in 2011.
 
SCOUTING SEATTLE:
• The Seattle Redhawks (0-5) have been a thorn in the Vikings' side the last two years, as they've beaten them in each of the past two seasons 6-1 in 2014 and 5-2 in 2015
• The Redhawks have played a difficult schedule so far this season, as they've lost two matches each to No. 63-ranked Washington (7-0 in each match on Jan. 9) and No. 49-ranked Oregon (6-1 and 7-0 on Jan. 16)
• The Redhawks also lost 4-3 to Portland State's Big Sky rival Eastern Washington on Jan. 23
• The Redhawks and Eagles split their six singles matches against each other, while the Eagles swept all three doubles matches
• The Eagles return five of the six players who played in the team's 5-2 win over the Vikings last season in John Stormans, Ian Clare, Tanner Berkabile, Connor Leahy and Matt Alderson
• The Vikings return four of the six players that played in the match last season for them in Ethan Lopez, Wil Cochrane, Brent Wheeler and Ian Risenhoover
• Of the returning players, Lopez beat Stormans at line two in singles last season, while Clare beat Cochrane at line three, Berkabile beat Wheeler at line four and Alderson beat Risenhoover at line six
• The Redhawks have varied their lineup this season so far with no one player holding down any spot in their singles or doubles lineup
• The Redhawks have an experienced roster this season, with seven of their 10 players being either juniors or seniors
 
ALL-TIME SERIES VERSUS SEATTLE:
Portland State leads its all-time series against Seattle 5-3, but the Redhawks have owned the series of late with wins in each of the teams' last two matches. The Redhawks' win in 2014 snapped the Vikings' five-match winning streak in the series, which stretched from 2009-13.
 
LAST TIME OUT:
The Vikings showed fight in a 6-1 loss to cross-town rival Portland in their season opener last Friday. Senior Nathan Boniel led the Vikings in the match, as he posted a high-quality win over the Pilots' No. 1 player in Michail Pervolarakis, beating Pervolarakis 6-4, 4-6, 6-3. Boniel's win over Pervolarakis avenged an earlier loss to the Pilots player in the fall, as Pervolarakis beat Boniel 6-1, 6-3 at the Bulldog Classic, a tournament at which Pervolarakis would go on to sweep the singles and doubles titles. Senior Ian Risenhoover and junior Scott Goldner also pulled out a win at line two in doubles, beating the Pilots' Alex Wallace and Pierre Garcia in a tiebreaker, 7-6 (3). Goldner played a tight match against Mathieu Garcia at line two in singles as well, staying with Garcia late into the first set before being broken in his final service game to lose the set 6-4, and then drop the second set 6-1. Senior Wil Cochrane also made a comeback in the second set of his match against Wallace at line five, as he was two breaks down at 3-0 in the second set after losing 6-2 in the first. Cochrane got a break back and got to 4-3 in the second set, but Wallace maintained control and eventually won 6-2, 6-4.
 
UPCOMING:
The Vikings will stay home for another pair of matches next weekend, as they host Lewis & Clark at West Hills Racquet & Fitness Club in Portland, Ore., on Feb. 4, and then open Big Sky play against Northern Arizona at Club Green Meadows in Vancouver, Wash., on Feb. 6.
 
RISENHOOVER CHASING CAREER LEAD IN DOUBLES WINS:
With his doubles win with partner Scott Goldner against the Pilots on Friday, Risenhoover now has 28 doubles wins in his Portland State career, tied for second all-time in school history. Risenhoover now needs just four more wins to tie Alex VanDerschelden for the career lead in doubles victories at 32. Fellow seniors Brent Wheeler and Wil Cochrane also rank in the top 10 all-time in career doubles wins, as they rank seventh with 24 wins and tied for ninth with 16 wins, respectively.
 
THREE VIKINGS IN CAREER TOP 10 FOR SINGLES WINS:
The Vikings' three seniors of Wil Cochrane, Ian Risenhoover and Brent Wheeler all rank in the top 10 all-time in career singles wins at Portland State. Wheeler ranks highest of the three players with 15 singles wins, tying him for fifth all-time in school history. Cochrane, meanwhile, has 14 career wins, tying him for seventh all-time, while Risenhoover ranks 10th all-time with 13 career wins.
 
NEWCOMERS:
The Vikings brought in three players over the offseason in junior transfer Scott Goldner, sophomore transfer Nathan Boniel and freshman Yousef Abdo. Boniel came to the Vikings with impressive credentials after he won an NCCAA national title at Campbellsville University in 2015. Boniel was named an NCCAA first-team All-American after winning the national title, and was also named to the Mid-South Conference first team last season. Goldner, meanwhile, came to the Vikings after graduating Magna Cum Laude after only three years at the University of Oregon where he played club tennis. Goldner also lettered in tennis at Lake Oswego High School during all four years of high school, and placed third at state as a senior with Lake Oswego in 2012. Abdo came to the Vikings out of Cairo, Egypt, where he was ranked in the top 10 in the U14 and U16 age divisions. Abdo also achieved a French ranking of 5/6 during his junior career, and was a two-time quarterfinalist at the Egyptian national tournament.
 
RETURNERS:
The Vikings return four of the six regular players from their lineup last season in Ethan Lopez, Brent Wheeler, Wil Cochrane and Ian Risenhoover, as well as junior Nacor Ibanez, who entered the Vikings' lineup on occasion last season. Lopez had the best season of the Vikings' four returners, as he was named an All-Big Sky honorable mention after a record-setting year in 2015. Lopez set Portland State single-season school records for Big Sky singles wins (7), Big Sky wins by a team (8 w/ Brent Wheeler) and win percentage at No. 2 singles (.727). Lopez also led the Vikings with a 17-12 overall singles record (11-8 during the dual season), and went 8-1 in Big Sky doubles matches with Wheeler. Risenhoover and Cochrane also had great doubles seasons in 2015, with Risenhoover going 7-8 with Stuart Tierney at line one, while Cochrane went 7-7 with Matt Pronesti at line two.
 
2014-15 SEASON RECAP:
The Vikings posted historic accomplishments throughout the 2014-15 season, starting in the fall when the Vikings' doubles team of Wil Cochrane and Matt Pronesti became the first team to win a main draw doubles title since 2010 as they won the second flight of the PNW Intercollegiates. Pronesti also won the singles title at the Corvallis Indoor Tennis Championships, becoming the first Viking to win a main draw singles title since 2011. Pronesti was named the Big Sky Player of the Week after his win in Corvallis, which gave him another historic feat as it made him the Vikings' first Big Sky Player of the Week since 2010. The Vikings picked up another Big Sky Player of the Week honor a little while later, as Stuart Tierney won the award after leading the Vikings to their first-ever win over defending Big Sky tournament-champion Montana with a 5-2 victory on Feb. 21. The Vikings also picked up their first-ever win over traditional conference power Sacramento State, beating the Hornets 4-3 on April 11. The historic wins led the Vikings to four Big Sky wins during the 2015 spring season, which tied the program record for conference wins in a single season.