Complete Match Notes (PDF)

PORTLAND, Ore. — With a win on the road Sunday, the Portland State men's tennis team's trip to Idaho State and Weber State this weekend suddenly doesn't look so daunting.
 
The Vikings are 1-8 all-time on the road at Idaho State, which they'll play Friday, and are 0-14 all-time against Weber State, including an 0-5 record against the Wildcats on the road.
 
Still, the Vikings hadn't beaten any Big Sky team on the road since late in 2015 before beating Northern Colorado Sunday, and hadn't won a match in Greeley since 2010.
 
That has to give the Vikings confidence going into this weekend, especially as the Vikings beat the Bears, 4-3, to pull out their first 4-3 match in five tries this season.
 
Freshman Sam Larson broke through to give the Vikings' their fourth point in the dual, as he shook off earlier losses in similar situations to beat Northern Colorado's Alex Clerihew 6-2, 6-3 in front of a hostile crowd at line six.
 
Larson and senior Ethan Lopez also pulled out a close, 6-4 win at line three in doubles, giving the Vikings one of their two wins in doubles as they claimed the doubles point against the Bears.
 
Junior Nathan Boniel and freshman Tommy Edwards won the other doubles match for the Vikings at line one, and the pair also won their singles matches at lines one and two. Boniel and Edwards came back from a 1-4, love-30 deficit to win 6-4 in doubles, and Edwards mounted a comeback in his match at line two in singles, as well.
 
Edwards trailed Northern Colorado's Kyle Pease 5-0 in the first set, but came back to win the set in a tiebreaker, 7-6. Pease took a close second set, 6-4, but Edwards broke late in the third set before serving out a 7-6, 4-6, 7-5 win.
 
Boniel, meanwhile, was his typically dominant self while winning his seventh straight match in straight sets, beating Northern Colorado's Alex Vakouftsis 6-3, 6-3 at line one. The win gave Boniel his record-breaking 29th career singles win, cementing his legacy as the greatest Portland State men's tennis player of all time.
 
Boniel's new solidified status should be another source of confidence for the Vikings, on top of the team's success on the road last week. The Vikings will certainly need plenty of confidence to reverse their poor history on the road against Idaho State and Weber State.
 
The Vikings play Idaho State at 2 p.m. (MT) Friday, and then face Weber State just under 24 hours later at 1 p.m. (MT) Saturday.
 
 
MATCH INFO:
March 31 – at Idaho State – Pocatello, Idaho (Tennis Courts at Reed Gym – 2 p.m. (MT)
April 1 – Weber State – Ogden, Utah (John Edman Tennis Courts) – 1 p.m. (MT)
 
FOLLOW THE VIKINGS ON SOCIAL MEDIA:
Fans can follow the Portland State men's tennis team all year on Twitter at @ViksMTEN. Live updates from most home matches will be posted on that account. Fans can also find the Vikings on Instagram at @viksmtennis.
 
SCOUTING IDAHO STATE:
• The Idaho State Bengals (8-7, 3-3 Big Sky) come into their match against the Vikings on Friday with a perfect, 4-0 record at home this season. The Bengals beat Northern Colorado, 6-1, and Eastern Washington, 5-2, in two Big Sky home matches, and also beat Southern Utah in a non-conference home match, 6-1, back on Jan. 27. The Bengals also hold a common non-conference opponent with the Vikings in Seattle, which the Bengals beat 4-3 in a neutral-site match.
• The Bengals have an incredibly experienced roster with six seniors among their eight players, and will return all six players who played against the Vikings in singles last season.
• Seniors Sebastian Edin and Quentin Wacquez have traded off playing at lines one and two so far this season, and have pretty similar records at both positions. Edin has gone 5-4 at line one and 2-2 at line two, while Wacquez has gone 2-3 at line one and 5-4 at line two. Edin has also played at line one in doubles with fellow senior Josh Goodwin, and has gone 4-7 with him so far this season.
• Goodwin has played predominately at line three in singles for the Bengals, and has gone 6-3 at the position. Sophomore Francis Filipovich and senior Bjorn Scheepbouwer follow at lines four and five with 6-4 and 8-4 records, respectively, while junior Keegan Sullivan has a 4-5 record at line six.
• The Bengals have winning records at lines two and three in doubles, as the Bengals are 8-7 and 8-5 at the bottom two lines, respectively. Scheepbouwer and Sullivan have gone 7-6 at line two this season and are 9-6 overall together, while Filipovich and Wacquez are 5-4 at line three and 6-5 overall.
 
ALL-TIME SERIES VERSUS IDAHO STATE:
The Vikings are 4-9 all-time against Idaho State, but snapped a four-match losing streak to the Bengals with a 4-3 win at home last season. The Vikings lost 4-3 to the Bengals the last time they played in Pocatello, however, and are 1-8 all-time against the Bengals in Pocatello.
 
SCOUTING WEBER STATE:
• The three-time defending Big Sky regular-season champion Weber State Wildcats (5-8, 2-3 Big Sky) snapped out of a hard-luck four-match losing streak with a 5-2 win over Southern Utah last Sunday. The Wildcats lost 4-2 to Santa Clara at home on March 3 to start their losing streak, and then lost three straight 4-3 matches to Big Sky schools Eastern Washington, Idaho and Northern Arizona. The Wildcats will host North Dakota at home for a match Friday, before playing the Vikings Saturday.
• The Wildcats lost four seniors off last year's Big Sky regular-season title-winning team, including two-time All-Big Sky first-team selection Todd Fought, and All-Big Sky second-team selection Sanjay Goswami. The Wildcats did return All-Big Sky first-team selection Stefan Cooper, however, and still have three juniors and a senior on their seven-player roster.
• Junior Shao-Po Yin has led the Wildcats at line one in singles this season, and has gone 4-7 at the top line this season. Cooper has followed Yin at line two, and has gone 6-3 at the position, while freshman Kris Van Wyk has gone 6-5 at line three.
• Junior Hou-En Chen leads the Wildcats with nine singles wins this season, and also leads the team with a 4-1 record in Big Sky matches. Chen has played predominately at line four for the Wildcats, and has an 8-4 record at the position.
• The Wildcats have been a strong doubles team this season with a combined overall record of 22-13 in doubles matches, as well as a 10-4 combined record in Big Sky matches. The Wildcats have mostly kept to the same doubles pairings this season, as only four different pairings have played for the Wildcats this season.
• Cooper and Yin have gone 6-4 for the Wildcats at line one in doubles, while Van Wyk and fellow freshman Michiel Van Schoor have gone 6-5 together at line two. Chen and freshman Cezary Walkusz lead the team with nine wins this season, all of which have come at line three where they are 9-4 together. Cooper and Yin and Chen and Walkusz also each have a 4-1 record in Big Sky matches this season.
 
ALL-TIME SERIES VERSUS WEBER STATE:
The Vikings are 0-14 all-time against Weber State, though the Vikings have played a couple of close matches against the Wildcats recently. The Vikings lost narrow, 4-3 matches at home in 2014 and 2016, and the Wildcats won the Big Sky regular-season title in both seasons. The Vikings have lost their last two road matches against the Wildcats by 7-0 scores, however.
 
LAST TIME OUT:
The Vikings broke through for their first Big Sky win of the season with a 4-3 win at Northern Colorado Sunday, which also marked the Vikings' first Big Sky win in Greeley since 2010, and the Vikings' first conference road win since a 6-1 win at Southern Utah on April 17, 2015. Junior Nathan Boniel led the Vikings with wins at lines one in singles and doubles, giving him his record-breaking 29th career singles win and cementing his legacy as the greatest Portland State men's tennis player of all time. The 4-3 win over the Bears also marked the Vikings' first win in five 4-3 matches this season, and the Vikings won the doubles point for the first time in a Big Sky match. The Vikings' doubles point proved decisive in the close match, and came via a pair of 6-4 wins at lines one and three in doubles. Boniel and freshman Tommy Edwards came back from a 1-4, love-30 deficit to beat Northern Colorado's Alex Vakouftsis and Cassell King, 6-4, at line one, while senior Ethan Lopez and freshman Sam Larson beat Northern Colorado's Kyle Pease and Alex Clerihew, 6-4, at line three. Boniel, Edwards and Larson then all won in singles, with Larson clinching the match for the Vikings with a 6-2, 6-3 win at line six. Edwards came back from an 0-5 deficit in the first set of his match to beat Pease 7-6, 4-6, 7-5 at line two.
 
UPCOMING:
The Vikings remain on the road for a pair of matches against Northern Arizona and Southern Utah next Saturday and Sunday. The Vikings play Northern Arizona at 10 a.m. (PT) on April 8, and then head over to Southern Utah for a match at 11 a.m. (MT) on April 9.
 
BONIEL DEFINITIVELY CLAIMS TITLE OF GREATEST OF ALL TIME:
Junior Nathan Boniel completed the best season in program history last season with records for overall singles wins (19), overall singles win percentage (.950) and Big Sky singles wins (9), and has not taken over the claim as the greatest player of all time within the Portland State men's tennis program. Boniel broke the career records for overall singles wins and wins at No. 1 singles with his 29th career win last weekend, and also already holds the records for overall singles win percentage and win percentage at No. 1 singles. Boniel holds both of the win percentage records by a wide margin, as his .879 win percentage in both categories leads Chris Rice's old records of .509 by close to 400 percentage points. Boniel is also a win away from tying the career record for Big Sky singles wins that Boniel's former teammate, Ian Risenhoover, set at 15 last season. Boniel ranks well in doubles, as well, as he holds the second-best overall win percentage all-time at .621, while his 9-4 record at No. 1 doubles with Tommy Edwards has the pair of them tied for all-time lead in win percentage at the top line in doubles at .692.
 
TOMMY BOY WONDER:
Freshmen Tommy Edwards has been a bright spot for the Vikings in his first year in the Vikings' lineup. During the fall, Edwards was a finalist in the singles B flight at the Bulldog Classic, where he also won the consolation doubles title with partner Nathan Boniel. Now in the spring, Edwards ranks second on the team behind Boniel with eight singles wins, seven of which have come in straight sets. Edwards has also gone 9-4 with Boniel at line one in doubles, and has moved up to line two in the Vikings' singles lineup behind Boniel. Edwards has six wins at line two in singles this season, a total that ranks him tied for fourth in single-season wins at the position. Alex VanDerschelden set the single-season record for wins at line two at nine in 2010, three wins ahead of Edwards with five regular-season matches left on the Vikings' schedule. Additionally, with nine wins at line one in doubles this season, Edwards already ranks tied for the fifth-most wins at the position in a single season, five behind the record Brent Wheeler set at 14 last season. Edwards also ranks tied with Boniel for the all-time lead in win percentage at No. 1 doubles (.692).
 
LOPEZ SEEKING RECORDS IN FINAL YEAR AT PORTLAND STATE:
Senior Ethan Lopez is in the final year of his three-year Portland State career, and could cement his legacy as one of the greatest players of all time with a successful senior season. Lopez currently ranks tied for sixth all-time in career singles wins with 24, just one win behind moving into a tie for fourth all-time with Kyle Erickson (2008-10) and Lopez's former teammate, Wil Cochrane (2013-16). Lopez also ranks third all-time in career singles win percentage at .462, and ranks fourth all-time in career Big Sky singles wins with 11. Additionally, Lopez has been one of the best doubles players in school history throughout his career, having set the record for wins by a doubles team with former teammate Brent Wheeler last season. Lopez also ranks tied for fifth all-time with 27 career individual doubles wins, and ranks third all-time in career doubles win percentage at .551.
 
NEWCOMERS:
The Vikings added three true freshmen during the offseason in Tommy Edwards, Sam Larson and Majeed Bukhari, while redshirt freshman Yousef Abdo joins the fold after sitting out last season. Edwards had the best fall season of any of the four freshmen, as he made the championship match of the singles B draw at the Bulldog Classic, where he also won the consolation doubles title along with teammate Nathan Boniel. Edwards also competed in the junior draw at the Oracle ITA Masters, not representing Portland State, and advanced into the second round of the prestigious tournament. Bukhari, meanwhile, made the consolation finals of the singles B draw at the Bulldog Classic, and went 5-5 overall in singles during the fall.
 
2016 SEASON RECAP:
The Vikings completed the best season in program history last year, as the team set program records for overall wins (12), overall win percentage (.571) and Big Sky wins (5). The Vikings also challenged for a spot in the Big Sky tournament during the season, which would have been their first time ever making the Big Sky tournament. The Vikings stood 5-2 in Big Sky matches at one point, but an untimely injury to the Vikings' No. 2 singles player, Scott Goldner, precipitated a six-match losing streak that dropped the Vikings out of tournament contention. The Vikings still managed to set more individual records during the season, however, as departed senior Ian Risenhoover set the career record for career doubles wins at 39, while fellow departed senior Brent Wheeler finished second behind him with 38. Wheeler also set the record for most career wins by a doubles team with 22 with Ethan Lopez, and tied the record for most individual career wins at No. 1 doubles with 26. Risenhoover, meanwhile, left the program as the career leader in wins at No. 2 doubles, wins at No. 6 singles, Big Sky singles wins and Big Sky doubles wins. The big record-setter in 2016, however, was Nathan Boniel, who set five single-season records while becoming the program's first-ever Big Sky MVP at the end of the season. Boniel set the records for overall singles wins (19), overall singles win percentage (.950), Big Sky singles wins (9), wins at No. 1 singles (19) and win percentage at No. 1 singles (.950).