Complete Match Notes (PDF)

PORTLAND, Ore. — Fresh off a record-setting weekend, the Portland State men's tennis team goes for one more record Friday, as the Vikings host Southern Utah with a chance to win a program-record fifth Big Sky win of the season.
 
The Vikings (10-3, 4-2 Big Sky) tied a program record with their fourth Big Sky win of the season on Monday, when the Vikings fought off a comeback from Idaho State to beat the Bengals, 4-3. The Vikings also set a program record with their 10th overall win this season on Tuesday, when the team beat NCAA Division III Swarthmore, 5-2, at the Stott Center. No Viking team had ever won more than nine matches in a season before Tuesday, and this year's team still has eight regular-season matches in which to extend their record.
 
Last weekend was also a record weekend for senior Ian Risenhoover, who became the career leader in doubles wins with a 6-2 win with partner Scott Goldner over North Dakota's Connor Oberle and Matt Hokanson on Friday. That gave Risenhoover 33 doubles wins in his career, moving him past Alex VanDerschelden, who set the record with 32 wins from 2008-11.
 
Risenhoover also became the all-time leader in Big Sky doubles wins on Saturday, as he won the 17th doubles match of his career in conference play with a 6-4 win with Goldner over Weber State's Todd Fought and Jakub Gewert.
 
Sophomore Nathan Boniel, meanwhile, is on pace to set his own records later this season, as he upped his record in singles to 12-1 with four straight-set wins last week. Boniel, who was named the Big Sky Men's Tennis Player of the Week for a second time on Wednesday, now ranks just three wins behind the single-season records for overall singles wins and wins at No. 1 singles, both of which Chris Rice set at 15 in 2009. Boniel's .923 win percentage this season also ranks well ahead of Rice's single-season records for overall win percentage and win percentage at No. 1 doubles, both of which Rice set at .652 in 2009.
 
The Vikings and Thunderbirds will get underway at 2 p.m. (PT), with a venue change for the Vikings, as they play at West Hills Racquet and Fitness Club in Portland, Ore., for the first time this season.
 
MATCH INFO:
March 11 – vs. Southern Utah – Portland, Ore. (West Hills Racquet and Fitness Club) – 2 p.m. (PT)
 
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Fans can follow the Portland State men's tennis team year round on Twitter at @ViksMTEN.
 
SCOUTING SOUTHERN UTAH:
• The Southern Utah Thunderbirds (0-7, 0-2 Big Sky) have had a rough start to the season, as they have lost their first seven matches of the season all by 7-0 scores
• The Thunderbirds have only won one doubles match so far this season, as they are 1-20 as a team
• The Thunderbirds have not won any singles matches so far this season, as they are 0-42 as a team so far
• The Thunderbirds return only two players from last year's team, both of which played in the Vikings' match against the Thunderbirds last season
• Three of the Thunderbirds' eight players this season are underclassmen
 
ALL-TIME SERIES VERSUS SOUTHERN UTAH:
The Vikings are 3-0 all-time against Southern Utah, and have won all three matches by 6-1 or 7-0 scores. The Vikings beat the Thunderbirds 7-0 in their only other home match against them, which came in head coach Toby Krauel's first year at the helm in 2014.
 
LAST TIME OUT:
The Vikings faced a busy week last week, as they played four matches over five days. The Vikings handled the schedule well, though, as they went 3-1 over the week, with their only loss coming via a 4-3 decision against two-time defending Big Sky regular-season champion Weber State. The busy weekend also featured several standout individual performances, topped by senior Ian Risenhoover breaking the school record for career doubles wins in the Vikings' first match of the week against North Dakota. Risenhoover now has 36 doubles wins in his career, while he and partner Scott Goldner went 4-0 last week. Risenhoover also mounted a furious comeback to clinch the Vikings' 4-3 win over Idaho State on Monday, coming back from a 3-0 deficit in the third set of his match against Haseeb Khan by winning six straight games. Sophomore Nathan Boniel, meanwhile, went 7-0 between singles and doubles last week, winning all four of his singles matches in straight sets.
 
BONIEL NAMED BIG SKY MEN'S TENNIS PLAYER OF THE WEEK:
Sophomore transfer Nathan Boniel picked up his second Big Sky Men's Tennis Player of the Week Wednesday after going 7-0 between singles and doubles last week. Boniel won all four of his singles matches at line one in straight sets, including three wins over Big Sky opponents in which he only dropped eight combined games. Boniel beat North Dakota's David Bergstrom 6-1, 6-1 on Friday, then followed it up with a 6-0, 6-3 win over Weber State's Jakub Gewert, an All-Big Sky second-team selection last season, on Saturday. Boniel also beat Idaho State's Sebastian Edin 6-1, 6-2 on Monday, helping the Vikings close out their 4-3 win over the Bengals. Boniel also went 3-0 with doubles partner Wil Cochrane last week, including two wins over Big Sky opponents to up their record in conference play to 4-0 this season.
 
UPCOMING:
The Vikings take nine days off before heading to California for three matches from March 21-25. The Vikings next play at UC Riverside on March 21, and then follow it up with a match at Point Loma on March 22. The Vikings will then step back into conference play with a match at Sacramento State on March 25.
 
HOME SWEET HOME:
The Vikings have been nearly unstoppable in home matches this season, as they enter their match against Southern Utah with a 7-1 record at home. The Vikings' lone loss at home came to two-time defending Big Sky regular-season champion Weber State, who entered the match with a 24-1 combined record in conference play since the beginning of the 2014 season. The Vikings nearly got the better of the Wildcats, too, as they won the doubles point and two singles matches from the Wildcats, and were a set away from taking the matches at lines two and five. One more set win at either position would have given the Vikings the win over the Wildcats, but the Wildcats came out on top in both matches to edge the Vikings, 4-3. The match against the Thunderbirds will be the team's first at West Hills Racquet and Fitness Club this season, as the Vikings played their first eight home matches at Club Green Meadows in Vancouver, Wash., and played on the top floor of the Stott Center against Swarthmore on Tuesday.
 
2016 ALREADY GUARANTEED TO BE BEST SEASON IN PROGRAM HISTORY:
The Vikings' 5-2 win over Swarthmore on Tuesday gave the Vikings a program-record 10th win overall this season. No Viking team had ever won more than nine matches in a season before this year's team, and the Vikings still have eight matches left on their regular-season schedule in which to extend their record. The Vikings' 4-3 win over Idaho State on Monday also gave the team a record-tying fourth Big Sky win, making the team's match against Southern Utah the team's first chance to break that record as well. The Vikings will also clinch the program's first winning record with two more wins this season, and also need two more wins in Big Sky play to clinch the program's first winning record in Big Sky play.
 
RISENHOOVER TAKES OVER CAREER LEAD IN DOUBLES WINS:
Senior Ian Risenhoover took over the all-time lead in doubles wins with a 6-2 win over North Dakota's Connor Oberle and Matt Hokanson on March 4. That win gave Risenhoover the 33rd doubles win of his career, moving him past Alex VanDerschelden, who set the record with 32 wins from 2008-11. Risenhoover has since extended his career record to 36 wins, and took over the career lead in Big Sky doubles wins with a 6-4 win over Weber State's Todd Fought and Jakub Gewert on March 5. Risenhoover and doubles partner Scott Goldner have won five straight doubles matches together going into the Vikings' match Friday, and lead the team with a 9-2 record together this season. Risenhoover and Goldner's 9-2 record, all of which has come at line two, already gives them the single-season record for wins at No. 2 doubles, as well as the single-season record for win percentage at No. 2 doubles. Both Risenhoover and Goldner have also tied the individual record for wins at No. 2 doubles, a record Risenhoover himself set with nine in 2013.
 
BONIEL CHASING BEST SEASON IN SCHOOL HISTORY:
Sophomore transfer Nathan Boniel could finish 2016 with far and away the best individual season in program history. Boniel's 12-1 record in singles give him the most wins this season of any player in the Big Sky Conference, as well as the highest win percentage at .923. Boniel's 12 wins also rank him just three wins from tying the Portland State single-season records for overall singles wins and win percentage at No. 1 singles, both of which Chris Rice set at 15 in 2016. Boniel has eight regular-season matches in which to get the three wins, and also has five Big Sky matches remaining in which to better the single-season record for Big Sky singles wins that teammate Ethan Lopez set with seven in 2015. Boniel's win percentage of .923 would also crush the single-season records for overall singles win percentage and win percentage at No. 1 singles that Rice set at .652 in 2009, if the season ended today. Boniel has been on a roll lately as well, winning six straight matches, the last four in straight sets.
 
CAREER RECORD CHASING IN TOP 10:
Several of the Vikings' seniors are jockeying for position within the career top 10s in both singles and doubles. Senior Ian Risenhoover currently holds the lead with 36 career doubles wins, but senior Brent Wheeler ranks close behind with 33 wins in his career. Wheeler also ranks just one win behind Risenhoover in Big Sky doubles wins, as he has 17 career wins in Big Sky matches behind Risenhoover's 18. Wheeler and fellow senior Wil Cochrane are also jockeying for position in the career top 10 in singles wins, with Cochrane currently tied for fourth with 23 career wins, while Wheeler ranks right behind at sixth with 22. Both could challenge for the career record for singles wins, which Chris Rice and Alex VanDerschelden currently hold at 28. Risenhoover, meanwhile, ranks tied for the career lead in Big Sky singles wins with 14, and will break the record with one more win.
 
FORGET J-LO, WE'LL TAKE E-LO:
Junior Ethan Lopez is only in his second year within the Portland State men's tennis program, but he's already become one of the program's all-time best players. Lopez currently holds the career lead in singles win percentage with a 20-12 career mark (.625), and ranks second all-time in doubles wins percentage with an 18-10 career mark (.643). Lopez also set single-season records for Big Sky singles wins (7) and win percentage at No. 2 singles last season (.727), and has won nine of his last 12 singles matches, eight in straight sets. Additionally, Lopez and senior Brent Wheeler have a chance to become the all-time winningest doubles team at Portland State, as they have 17 career wins together, just four behind all-time leaders Alec Marx and Abhinav Mishra at 21 with eight regular-season matches left on the schedule.
 
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.