RESULTS - PDF | HTML

VANCOUVER, Wash. — Tommy Edwards and Avery West of the Portland State men's tennis team got the celebrity couple name treatment before the Vikings' match against Idaho State, receiving the nickname "Westwards." However, after the Vikings beat the Bengals 5-2 in their Big Sky opener Saturday at Club Green Meadows – a win that included an upset of the Bengals' 50th-ranked doubles team by Westwards – the direction the Vikings could be going is eastwards instead of westwards. At least as far east as Phoenix, where the Big Sky tournament will be held, April 26-28.
 
The Vikings (4-2, 1-0 Big Sky) certainly looked the part of a tournament team Saturday against the Bengals (3-3, 1-1 Big Sky), who were a Big Sky tournament themselves last season when they went 7-4 record in Big Sky play. The Bengals lost four seniors off that team, but brought in talented newcomers and won their Big Sky opener against Southern Utah, 5-2, back on Jan. 28.
 
Two of those newcomers - Peter Trhac and David Felix - came into the match as the 50th-ranked doubles team nationally, after they made finals of the ITA Mountain Regionals back in October, and advanced to the round of 16 at the Oracle ITA National Fall Championships a few weeks later.
 
Trhac and Felix couldn't master Edwards and West Saturday, however, as the Viking No. 1 team handed Trhac and Felix their first loss of the dual season with a 6-4 win to kick off the teams' match.
 
Edwards and West, or Westwards, have now won five doubles matches in a row for the Vikings, and also have a quality win over the University of Portland's No. 1 team to go along with Saturday's upset. Additionally, Edwards moved into fourth all time on his own with 14 individual career wins at No. 1 doubles, putting him just 12 wins off the all time lead as only a sophomore.
 
Freshmen Sam Roberts and Otto Holtari followed Westwards' upset win with their own win at No. 2 doubles that sealed the doubles point for the Vikings. Roberts and Holtari pulled out the match over Idaho State's William Edin and Adam Hornby in a tiebreaker, winning 7-6 (4) for their third win out of five matches together this season.
 
Roberts and Holtari also swept their singles matches, joining West and Viking No. 1 Nathan Boniel as winners for the Vikings in singles.
 
West blew his opponent off the court at No. 3 singles, as he dropped only one game in each set while beating ISU's Francis Filipovich 6-1, 6-1. West has now won four of his last five matches for the Vikings at line three, and has only dropped seven games combined in his four singles wins so far this season.
 
Boniel followed West off the court with a 6-3, 6-2 win over Felix at No. 1 singles, giving him his record-extending 18th career Big Sky singles win. Like West, Boniel has won four of his last five singles matches, with his only loss in that stretch coming against 18th-ranked Mike Pervolarakis of UP.
 
Roberts has been every bit as dominant as Boniel and West, recently, and was so once again Saturday in a 6-3, 6-4 win over Edin at No. 4 singles. Roberts has won four of his last five singles matches – same as Boniel and West – and like West, Roberts took a set off his opponent in his one loss during that stretch, which came in the Vikings' match against UP on Feb. 3.
 
Holtari leads all the Vikings with a 4-1 record in singles during the dual season, though he had a tougher path to his fourth win of the season than the others. Holtari dropped a close first set to Idaho State's Keegan Sullivan, 5-7, but then came back to sweep a pair of close sets and win 5-7, 6-3, 6-4.
 
The Vikings host Southern Utah – the team the Bengals beat in their Big Sky opener two weeks ago – for another conference match Friday, Feb. 16. First serve between the Vikings and Thunderbirds will be at 1 p.m. (PT) at Club Green Meadows in Vancouver, Wash. 

Portland State 5, Idaho State 2
Feb 10, 2018 at Vancouver, Wash. (Club Green Meadows) 

Singles competition

1. BONIEL, Nathan (PSU) def. FELIX, David (ISU) 6-3, 6-2

2. TRHAC, Peter (ISU) def. EDWARDS, Tommy (PSU) 6-4, 6-4

3. WEST, Avery (PSU) def. FILIPOVICH, Francis (ISU) 6-1, 6-1

4. ROBERTS, Sam (PSU) def. EDIN, William (ISU) 6-3, 6-4

5. HOLTARI, Otto (PSU) def. SULLIVAN, Keegan (ISU) 5-7, 6-3, 6-4

6. HORNBY, Adam (ISU) def. BUKHARI, Majeed (PSU) 6-3, 6-2

 

Doubles competition

1. EDWARDS, Tommy/WEST, Avery (PSU) def. #50 TRHAC, Peter/FELIX, David (ISU) 6-4

2. ROBERTS, Sam/HOLTARI, Otto (PSU) def. EDIN, William/HORNBY, Adam (ISU) 7-6 (7-4)

3. SULLIVAN, Keegan/FILIPOVICH, Francis (ISU) def. BONIEL, Nathan/SOUZA, Gabe (PSU) 7-5

 

Match Notes

Idaho State 3-3, 1-1 BSC

Portland State 4-2, 1-0 BSC