BOX SCORE - PDF | HTML

VANCOUVER, Wash. — What started as promise began to turn into prosperity for the Portland State men's tennis team Saturday, as the Vikings opened Big Sky play with a 6-1 win over Northern Arizona at Club Green Meadows, just the second time the Vikings have ever beaten the perennially strong Lumberjacks.
 
The win validates what has been a strong start to the season for the Vikings (4-1, 1-0 Big Sky), who had won three straight matches going into their Big Sky opener against the Lumberjacks (0-4, 0-1 Big Sky), but only one of which came over an NCAA Division I school. The Lumberjacks were a worthy test for the Vikings, however, as they made the Big Sky tournament final in 2015, and beat the Vikings 6-1 at the end of the 2015 regular season.
 
"Northern Arizona is a really well-coached team and they have a lot of talent on their team," PSU head coach Toby Krauel said after the match. "For us to beat them 6-1 and for the guys to play as hard and as smart as they did showed a lot of character.
 
"We have a really veteran squad with a lot of seniors and a lot of experience, and I think that carried the day."
 
The Vikings have now won four straight matches, something only one other Viking team has ever done and not since 2009.
 
The Vikings got it done from top to bottom Saturday, starting in doubles where the Vikings claimed the doubles point with wins at lines two and three. Sophomore Nathan Boniel and senior Wil Cochrane gave the Vikings their first win in doubles with a 6-3 victory over NAU's Eden Peleg and Thomas Fisher.
 
NAU leveled things right back with a 6-4 win at line one, however, leaving it up to line two to decide the doubles point. Junior Scott Goldner and senior Ian Risenhoover were on serve at 5-4 against NAU's Lucas Taylor and Felix Schumann at the time the match line one ended, and the pair got the decisive break in the final service game of the match, giving the Vikings the doubles point and a 1-0 lead going into singles.
 
The Vikings then jumped out to a strong start in singles, as they took the first set at lines one through four.
 
Goldner was the quickest to the one-set lead, as he broke NAU's Ruben Montano at 3-2 in the first set at line two, and then won the next three games to take the set, 6-2. Goldner won the second set as well, 6-1, as he nine of the final 10 service games in the match.
 
Goldner's win gave the Vikings a 2-0 lead in the dual, but NAU started to comeback after that, starting with a 7-6, 6-2 win at line five that brought the Lumberjacks to within 2-1.
 
Boniel and senior Brent Wheeler also found themselves in tight matches at lines one and three at that point, after they cruised to wins in the first set.
 
Boniel beat NAU's Tim Handel 6-2 in the first set at line one, but then was broken twice en route to a 6-4 loss in the second set.
 
Wheeler, meanwhile, broke Taylor twice in the first set at line three, but then couldn't shake Taylor in the second set, which Taylor would eventually win in a tiebreaker.
 
Fortunately for the Vikings, junior Ethan Lopez had pulled out a close first-set tiebreaker over Schumann at that point, and broke Schumann in the final game of the second set to take their match at line four, 7-6, 6-4.
 
That put the Vikings up 3-1 in the dual, and Boniel would close it out from there, recovering from his second-set loss with a dominant third set in which he ran out to a 5-0 lead before closing Handel out for a 6-2, 4-6, 6-1 win.
 
Wheeler also eventually won his match in a match tiebreaker, while Risenhoover gave the Vikings their sixth point with a 6-4, 6-4 victory over NAU's Jackson Lee at line six.
 
The Vikings will now look to extend their win streak to a program-record fifth straight match next weekend, as they head out on the road for another match against Seattle University, which the Vikings beat 5-2 at home earlier this season. The Vikings will play Seattle Friday at 7:15 p.m.
 
Match Notes: The Vikings improve to 2-10 all-time against NAU with their win Saturday…Risenhoover's win in doubles was the 31st of his career at Portland State, ranking him just one win from tying Alex VanDerschelden for the school record of 32…Boniel's win gave him five at line one already this season, ranking him tied for the fifth-best single-season win total at No. 1 singles, just five matches into the season.
 
Portland State 6, Northern Arizona 1
Feb 06, 2016 at Vancouver, Wash. (Club Green Meadows) 

Singles competition

1. BONIEL, Nathan (PSU) def. HANDEL, Tim (NAU) 6-2, 4-6, 6-1

2. GOLDNER, Scott (PSU) def. MONTANO, Ruben (NAU) 6-2, 6-1

3. WHEELER, Brent (PSU) def. TAYLOR, Lucas (NAU) 6-3, 6-7, 1-0 (10-5)

4. LOPEZ, Ethan (PSU) def. SCHUMANN, Felix (NAU) 7-6, 6-4

5. PELEG, Eden (NAU) def. COCHRANE, Wil (PSU) 7-6, 6-2

6. RISENHOOVER, Ian (PSU) def. LEE, Jackson (NAU) 6-4, 6-4

Doubles competition

1. MONTANO, Ruben/HANDEL, Tim (NAU) def. LOPEZ, Ethan/WHEELER, Brent (PSU) 6-4

2. GOLDNER, Scott/RISENHOOVER, Ian (PSU) def. TAYLOR, Lucas/SCHUMANN, Felix (NAU) 6-4

3. BONIEL, Nathan/COCHRANE, Wil (PSU) def. PELEG, Eden/FISHER, Thomas (NAU) 6-3

Match Notes

Northern Arizona 0-4, 0-1 BSC

Portland State 4-1, 1-0 BSC

Order of finish: Doubles (3,1,2); Singles (2,5,4,1,3,6)