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CHENEY, Wash. — It had to end sometime.
Eastern Washington (6-2, 3-0 Big Sky) snapped the Portland State men's tennis team's program-record five-match win streak Saturday, as they beat the Vikings 6-1 in a match closer than the final score would indicate.
Nearly all the close matches went the Eagles' way Saturday, as the Eagles won three matches in three sets, as well as another in a match tiebreaker. The close losses doomed the Vikings (5-2, 1-1 Big Sky) in the dual, especially after the Eagles took the doubles point with wins at lines one and two.
The Eagles rallied back from losing the first sets at lines one, two and six in singles. Robert Dula rallied back from a set down against the Vikings'
Nathan Boniel at line one in a much-anticipated match of two unbeaten players. Dula and Boniel entered the match 7-0 and 6-0, respectively, at line one this season, meaning one of the two would pick up their first loss of the season Saturday. Boniel got off to a good start with a 6-4 win in the first set, but then dropped the second set to Dula by the same score. Dula then pulled out an extremely close third set, 7-5, completing the 4-6, 6-4, 7-5 comeback win.
The Eagles' Victor Pereira also came back from a set down to win in three sets over the Vikings'
Scott Goldner at line two. Goldner cruised to a 6-2 win in the first set against Pereira, but Pereira turned things around from there, winning the second and third sets 6-3, 6-4.
Rendell Burghart, meanwhile, dropped the first set of his match against the Vikings'
Ian Risenhoover 6-4 at line six, but rallied back to win in a match tiebreaker, 4-6, 6-2, 1-0 (10-4).
The Eagles' Eduardo Bringold also won in three sets, but his came after the Vikings'
Brent Wheeler rallied back to level the match at a set all with a 6-2 win in the second set. Bringold bounced back to win 6-3 in the third set, however, giving the Eagles their fourth win past two sets Saturday.
The Vikings' lone win past two sets came at line five, where senior
Wil Cochrane beat the Eagles' Vuk Vuckovic in a match tiebreaker. Cochrane beat Vuckovic 6-2 in the first set, and then pulled out the match tiebreaker 10-5 after dropping the second set, 6-3.
The one match in singles that didn't go past two sets wasn't exactly a blowout, either, as the Eagles' Wacil Bendjelti beat the Vikings'
Ethan Lopez 6-4, 6-4 at line four.
The Vikings will now look to get back on track in their next match, as they head to Spokane, Wash., to play Gonzaga at 9 a.m. Sunday.
Match Notes: The Vikings fall to 3-13 all-time against the Eagles with their loss Saturday…The Vikings also fall to 0-5 all-time in true road matches against the Eagles, as well as 0-7 all-time in matches played outside of the Portland area…Cochrane's win gives the senior 19 career singles wins, tying him with Wheeler for fifth all-time at Portland State.
Eastern Washington 6, Portland State 1
Feb 20, 2016 at Cheney, Wash. | Singles competition |
| 1. DULA, Robert (EWU) def. BONIEL, Nathan (PSU) 4-6, 6-4, 7-5 |
| 2. PEREIRA, Victor (EWU) def. GOLDNER, Scott (PSU) 2-6, 6-3, 6-4 |
| 3. BRINGOLD, Eduardo (EWU) def. WHEELER, Brent (PSU) 7-5, 2-6, 6-3 |
| 4. BENDJELTI, Wacil (EWU) def. LOPEZ, Ethan (PSU) 6-4, 6-4 |
| 5. COCHRANE, Wil (PSU) def. VUCKOVIC, Vuk (EWU) 6-2, 3-6, 1-0 (10-5) |
| 6. BURGHART, Rendell (EWU) def. RISENHOOVER, Ian (PSU) 4-6, 6-2, 1-0 (10-4) |
| Doubles competition |
| 1. DULA, Robert/PEREIRA, Victor (EWU) def. WHEELER, Brent/LOPEZ, Ethan (PSU) 6-3 |
| 2. VUCKOVIC, Vuk/BENDJELTI, Wacil (EWU) def. RISENHOOVER, Ian/GOLDNER, Scott (PSU) 6-4 |
| 3. BONIEL, Nathan/COCHRANE, Wil (PSU) def. BURGHART, Rendell/NESS, Luke (EWU) 6-3 |
| Match Notes |
| Portland State 5-2, 1-1 BSC |
| Eastern Washington 6-2, 3-0 BSC |
| Order of finish: Doubles (3,1,2); Singles () |
