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VANCOUVER, Wash. — Turns out Sisyphus was a Viking.

In place of pushing a rock up a hill for eternity, though, the Portland State men's and women's tennis teams find themselves in a loop of 4-3 losses as the Viking men lost 4-3 to Montana State Sunday, a day after the Viking women lost 4-3 to Eastern Washington.
 
For the Viking men, Sunday's loss marked the fourth 4-3 loss of the season, and the team's seventh loss out of 10 that has come by a 4-3 or 5-2 score.
 
Sunday's loss looked at times like it could have been a 4-3 win for the Vikings (2-10, 0-5 Big sky), however, as the Vikings mounted a furious comeback in singles. Junior Nathan Boniel and freshman Tommy Edwards gave the Vikings two quick points with wins at lines one and two singles, giving each of them their second wins of the day after they won their doubles match together at line one.
 
Redshirt freshman Yousef Abdo then gave the Vikings a third point with three-set comeback win at line five, leaving the dual up to line six.
 
Freshman Sam Larson had already won the first set at line six, 6-1, by the time Abdo finished his win, and was already leading in the second set. Larson broke Montana State's Dylan Harvala in the first game of the second set at line six, and got a second break after saving a break point in the previous game to go up 5-2. The second break meant Larson would have two chances to serve for the match, putting the Vikings on the edge of a breakthrough win.
 
Harvala represented an experienced player on the other side of the net, however, and was in a similar position against the Vikings two years ago. Harvala beat former Viking Ian Risenhoover in three sets to clinch another 4-3 win for the Bobcats in 2015, and was playing on the same court on which he won that match against Larson Sunday.
 
Perhaps drawing inspiration from that, Harvala found his game against Larson at just the right time, and broke Larson at 2-5 and 4-5 with Larson serving for the match in both games. Harvala went on to win the second set, 7-5, after those two breaks, and he ran out to a 3-0 lead in the third set, as well.
 
Larson broke a run of eight straight games for Harvala with a hold to get to 1-3, saving a break point in the process. The hold got Larson back into the match, and Larson made good on it with a break at 2-4 to get back on serve at 3-4.
 
Harvala shook off being broken to break back right away, however, and then saved a break point while serving out the match in the following game to win 1-6, 7-5, 6-3.
 
"It was a tough spot for a freshman to be in against an experienced player like Harvala," PSU head coach Toby Krauel said of the deciding match. "We had some guys step up today, but we just didn't get it done."
 
Despite the heartbreak, the Vikings did well to put themselves in position to win the dual, especially Abdo, who came back to win at line five after losing the first set.
 
Abdo lost the first set to Montana State's Kasper Parlklo, 6-3, but broke to go up 5-3 in the second set, and then served it out in the next game to level the match at a set all.
 
Abdo broke Parlklo in the first game of the third set, too, and held that advantage throughout the set before serving out the match to win 3-6, 6-3, 6-4.
 
Abdo's win gave the Vikings their third point in the dual, after Boniel and Edwards won their matches at lines one and two, respectively.
 
Boniel was the first Viking off the court, as he only dropped one game to Montana State's Kellen Bates while beating him 6-0, 6-1 at line one.
 
Boniel's dominance was an appropriate way for him to tie the career records for overall singles wins and wins at No. 1 singles, which Boniel did with his 28th career win in both categories.
 
Edwards followed with a similar show of dominance after a tight beginning to his match against Montana State's Rok Sitar at line two. Sitar broke Edwards to get back on serve at 3-3, and then held in the following game to take a 4-3 lead in the first set. That would be it for Sitar, however, as Edwards won the final nine games of their match to complete a 6-4, 6-0 win, and snap out of a mini two-match losing streak for the freshman.
 
Edwards has now won five matches at line two this season, ranking him tied for the sixth-best single-season win total at the position, and just three wins away from matching the single-season record Alex VanDerschelden set with nine wins in 2010.
 
Edwards also won his sixth straight match with Boniel in doubles, as the pair cruised to a 6-1 win at line one. Boniel and Edwards have now won eight matches at line one this season, tying them for the fourth-best single-season win total at the position.
 
The Vikings will continue to rely on the Boniel and Edwards as their season continues in two weeks. The Vikings return to action with a road match at Northern Colorado that starts at 10 a.m. (MT) on March 26.
 
Match Notes: The Vikings fell to 1-11 all-time against Montana State following Sunday's loss…Sunday's match was the most recent entry into a long line of close matches against the Bobcats that includes 4-3 losses in 2015 and 2012, and a 4-2 loss in 2013…Abdo's win at line five moves him into the top 10 all-time in career wins at the position at Portland State.

Montana State 4, Portland State 3
Mar 12, 2017 at Vancouver, Wash. (Club Green Meadows) 

Singles competition

1. BONIEL, Nathan (PSU) def. BATES, Kellen (MSU) 6-0, 6-1

2. EDWARDS, Tommy (PSU) def. SITAR, Rok (MSU) 6-4, 6-0

3. TORRICO, Adrian (MSU) def. GOLDNER, Scott (PSU) 6-2, 6-3

4. FLINK, Alexander (MSU) def. LOPEZ, Ethan (PSU) 6-3, 6-3

5. ABDO, Yousef (PSU) def. PARLKLO, Kasper (MSU) 3-6, 6-3, 6-4

6. HARVALA, Dylan (MSU) def. LARSON, Sam (PSU) 1-6, 7-5, 6-3

 

Doubles competition

1. BONIEL, Nathan/EDWARDS, Tommy (PSU) def. FLINK, Alexander/SITAR, Rok (MSU) 6-1

2. BATES, Kellen/TORRICO, Adrian (MSU) def. GOLDNER, Scott/RISENHOOVER, Russell (PSU) 6-3

3. PARLKLO, Kasper/HARVALA, Dylan (MSU) def. LOPEZ, Ethan/LARSON, Sam (PSU) 6-3

 

Match Notes

Montana State 4-8, 3-1 BSC

Portland State 2-10, 0-5 BSC

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