A fall season that saw both the highs and lows of tennis has come and gone for the Portland State men's team after the completion of the Duck Invitational. The Vikings picked up a couple of first round wins in a tournament that featured Oregon, Portland, Boise State and Pacific (Calif.).
"The team played very strong this weekend," Krauel said. "We played high quality tennis against national level competition. We faced a number of injuries and challenging opponents but came out with some good wins."
Matteo Fortini kept up what has already been an impressive fall with a win in the first round. He fought back for a comeback 2-6, 6-2, 6-1 win against Tom Hann from Portland. In the quarterfinal, Fortini was knocked out of the tournament by Phillip Hjorth of Pacific 6-4, 6-4. Overall, Fortini composed a 7-5 record in the fall to lead the Vikings.
The Vikings had some struggles against the tough competition. Tommy Edwards was the only other Viking to pick up a singles win on the weekend, winning a pair of matches. Edwards beat Nathan Hampton from Pacific 6-0, 6-4 in a consolation match on Saturday. Edwards also beat Portland's Leo Hibi 6-4, 6-7, 10-4 on the weekend.
In the doubles bracket, Portland State saw two teams make their way into the quarterfinals. Majeed Bukhari and Nikola Dimitrijevic won in the first round, knocking off Hibi/Yoshida from Portland 8-7 (4) to reach the quarters.
They advanced to play against Soemarno/Roberts from the host Ducks. They fell in that match 8-2. Lucas Castelo Branco teamed up with Fortini and made it to the quarterfinals after receiving a first-round bye.
In the quarters, they were eliminated by Donat/Pankin from Portland 8-3.
Despite the tough results on the final weekend, it was a good fall with plenty of lessons for the Vikings. The entire team found success in some form as every player won at least two singles matches during the fall season.
"Overall the outlook for spring is very bright," Krauel said. "We improved our doubles these last two weeks and have solidified strong partnerships, led by the All-Big Sky team of West and Edwards."
Castelo Branco and Otto Holtari each picked up four wins during the season. Dimitrijevic, Edwards, Roberts, Souza and West all won three matches each in the fall.
They also had success in doubles, with five different pairings finishing the fall with a .500 or better record. There were plenty of different pairing tried out by Krauel, with only Edwards and West playing more than five matches together.
"We have a strong top two in the very talented Fortini and Branco. We also have excellent depth with Dimitrijevic, Roberts, Holtari and Bukhari," Krauel said. "Our depth will make us incredibly strong at lines four, five and six. I cannot wait for January."
Castelo Branco, Fortini, Roberts and Souza each picked up three wins in doubles matches with different partners. Overall, the Vikings finished with a 10-17 record in doubles and a 32-52 record ins ingles matches during the fall.
