Vikings Win Big on Saturday of ITA Regionals

Entering just its second week of tournament play and competing against a stacked draw full of Pac-12 teams, the Portland State men's tennis team put forth an impressive effort and saw a number of players pick up wins this weekend in Seattle.

For the second week in a row, newcomer Matteo Fortini showed the amount of talent that he brings to this Vikings team. Fortini cruised to a dominant win in the opening round against a player from Sacramento State, 6-0, 6-1.

In the second round, Fortini faced off against Cagatay Soke from Fresno State and again picked up a straight-sets win 7-5, 6-2. It advanced him into the round of 32, which is a rare feat for a Viking player. He eventually lost his third match of the tournament to Andrew Gu of Santa Clara 6-2, 6-2.

Fortini made the semifinals of the Dar Walters Classic in Boise last weekend and has compiled an impressive 5-2 record in the fall.

"Overall this weekend was great for us," head coach Toby Krauel said. "The ITA tournament consists of mostly Pac-12 schools and we put three guys in the second round and Matteo won two matches and reached the third round. Historically, we haven't had anyone other than Nathan Boniel get to the third round but Matteo backed up a solid effort in Boise."

Otto Holtari and Avery West also advanced to the second round. It took an outstanding performance against Seattle U's No. 1 player Trenton Nield. Holtari cruised 6-0 in the first set but dropped the second. In the decisive set, Holtari battled out a 7-6 (5) win to advance to play the top-seeded player in the entire tournament, Sameer Kumar from Stanford.

Holtari put up a great fight, winning seven total games but falling in two sets against Kumar.

West also fell in a competitive second-round match 6-4, 7-5 to Kasper Smith from Washington.

The rest of the team found significant success in the consolation bracket, with Portland State winning four of the five matches they competed in. Lucas Castelo Branco, Gabe Souza, Sam Roberts and Majeed Bukhari all picked up wins in the consolation bracket.

"Collectively as a group we improved from the Boise tournament," Krauel said. "On Saturday we won six out of the 10 matches that we played in the singles. Gabe Souza had success winning two out of his three matches and coming back from being down a set and down 4-1 in the second to win the match."

In the doubles competition, Fortini and Souza paired up to pick up the lone win for the Vikings and advanced to the round of 16. They defeated a team from UC Davis 8-6 in the opening match before falling to Genender/Sah from Stanford 8-1.

The Vikings now head to the Gonzaga Invitational for the third tournament of the fall season.

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Players Mentioned

Nathan Boniel: Senior; 2L

Majeed Bukhari: Junior; 1L

Otto Holtari: Sophomore; 1L

Sam Roberts: Sophomore; 1L

Avery West: Senior; 1L

Lucas Castelo Branco: Senior; TR

Matteo Fortini: Sophomore; TR

Players Mentioned

Nathan Boniel
: Senior; 2L

Majeed Bukhari
: Junior; 1L

Otto Holtari
: Sophomore; 1L

Sam Roberts
: Sophomore; 1L

Avery West
: Senior; 1L

Lucas Castelo Branco
: Senior; TR

Matteo Fortini
: Sophomore; TR