Complete Match Notes (PDF)

PORTLAND, Ore. — Upsetting a nationally ranked doubles team en route to a 5-2 win in your Big Sky opener can certainly give a team a good shot in the arm.
 
The Portland State men's tennis team got that last Saturday against Idaho State, with Tommy Edwards and Avery West providing the upset via a 6-4 win over the Bengals' No. 1 doubles team of Peter Trhac and David Felix. Trhac and Felix came into the match ranked 50th in the nation in the ITA, after making the finals of the ITA Mountain Regionals and the Round of 16 at the Oracle ITA National Fall Championships in the fall.
 
Sam Roberts and Otto Holatri backed Edwards and West up with a win at No. 2 doubles to give the Vikings the doubles point, and the Vikings won four of the six singles matches to close out the Bengals.
 
It was an ideal start to Big Sky play for the Vikings, and raised the hopes of a potential Big Sky tournament bid for the team at the end of the season. The Vikings have been chasing a conference tournament berth the past few seasons, but haven't qualified for the tournament since 2003. All Big Sky teams made the conference tournament in those years, however, meaning the Vikings have never qualified for the tournament on their own merit.
 
Last Saturday was the beginning of the Vikings' quest to end that drought, and it continues Friday with a home match against Southern Utah.
 
The Vikings have never lost to the Thunderbirds before, but played a close, 4-3 match against them on the road last season. The Vikings lost the doubles point in that match, but came back with four of six wins in singles to edge out the Thunderbirds. With the match tied at 3-3, then-senior Ethan Lopez saved three match points while serving at 5-6, 15-40 in the third set of his match at line four. Lopez then pulled out a close third-set tiebreaker, 8-6, giving him a 2-6, 6-0, 7-6 (6) win that clinched the dual for the Vikings.
 
The Vikings won the match against the Thunderbirds last season behind wins at lines three, four and five to go along with Viking No. 1 Nathan Boniel's usual dominance at the top of the lineup. The success in the middle of the lineup was a unique luxury for the Vikings in the match, as the Vikings finished last season just 8-36 against conference opponents at the bottom four spots of the lineup.
 
This season has been a different story for the Vikings, however, as West, Roberts and Holtari have all won four singles matches for the Vikings while primarily playing at lines three, four and five, respectively. Those three rank tied with Boniel for the team lead in singles wins this season, while Holtari has the best record of any of them with a 4-1 mark so far on the year.
 
Roberts' four wins at No. 4 singles already rank just two off the single-season school record at the position, meaning he could tie the record if he sweeps both of his matches this weekend. West and Holatri also rank just six wins off the single-season school records for wins at No. 3 and 5 singles, respectively.
 
The Vikings will have a difficult matchup Saturday, as Army West Point comes to town after winning the Patriot League tournament last season. The Black Knights return nine players off their team from last year, including four who played singles in the championship match against Navy.
 
The Black Knights will be the second team the Vikings have played this season that qualified for last year's NCAA tournament. The Vikings also played Oregon, which made the second round of the tournament last season, and lost 7-0 to the Ducks back on Jan. 12.
 
The Vikings will hope for a better result against the Black Knights Saturday, when they will hopefully be playing for a weekend sweep after taking care of business in their Big Sky match against the Thunderbirds Friday.
 
The Vikings host the Thunderbirds at 1 p.m. (PT) Friday, and host Army West Point at 2 p.m. (PT) Saturday. Both matches will be played at Club Green Meadows in Vancouver, Wash.
 
MATCH INFO:
Friday, Feb. 16 – vs. Southern Utah – Vancouver, Wash. (Club Green Meadows) – 1 p.m. (PT)
Saturday, Feb. 17 – vs. Army – Vancouver, Wash. (Club Green Meadows) – 2 p.m. (PT)
 
FOLLOW THE VIKINGS ON SOCIAL MEDIA:
Fans can follow the Portland State men's tennis team all year on Twitter and Instagram at @psuviksMTN. Live updates from most home matches will be posted on that account.
 
SCOUTING SOUTHERN UTAH:

• The Southern Utah Thunderbirds (1-3, 0-2 Big Sky) lost both of their Big Sky matches so far this season by 5-2 scores, losing to Weber State and Idaho State on Jan. 14 and 28, respectively. The Thunderbirds have been idle since their match against the Bengals. The Thunderbirds have also played two non-conference matches this season between a 7-0 loss to Utah State and a 7-0 win over Lewis-Clark State out of the NAIA.
• The Thunderbirds are a team entirely made up of freshmen or sophomores, and only return four players from last year's team that went 4-16 overall and 1-10 in Big Sky play.
• The Thunderbirds return Micah Alba, Guy Feign, Cedric Rupa and Conor Tordoff off last year's team. To those four, the Thunderbirds added sophomores Remus Cope and Jose Ortega, and freshmen Pablo Guerra, Jonathan Morales, Agustin Tamagnone and Jake Williams.
• Guerra has played the first four matches at No. 1 singles for the Thunderbirds, while Tordoff and Morales have split time at line two. Morales has also split time at line three with Feigin and Tamagone, who themselves have split time between lines three and four. Ortega leads all the Thunderbirds with two wins in singles this season, both of which came at No. 5 singles.
• PSU senior Nathan Boniel beat Tordoff 6-3, 7-6 at No. 1 singles when the Vikings played the Thunderbirds last season, while sophomore Tommy Edwards lost 0-6, 3-6 at No. 2 singles to Feigin.

 
ALL-TIME SERIES VERSUS SOUTHERN UTAH:
The Vikings have never lost to Southern Utah, having won all five previous meetings between them and the Thunderbirds. The Vikings had won their first four matches against the Thunderbirds by 6-1 or 7-0 scores, but the teams played a close, 4-3 match last season that the Vikings were fortunate to pull out on the road. The Vikings lost the doubles point to the Thunderbirds, but then won four of the six singles matches to take the dual. The dual was tied at 3-3 when then-senior Ethan Lopez saved three match points while serving at 5-6, 15-40 in the third set of his match at line four. Lopez then pulled out a close third-set tiebreaker, 8-6, giving him a 2-6, 6-0, 7-6 (6) win that clinched the dual for the Vikings.
 
SCOUTING ARMY:

• The Army West Point Black Knights (2-6) have played eight home matches already in the early season. The Black Knights beat Binghamton and Connecticut 5-2 and 7-0, respectively, but have lost to FAU (0-4, Jan. 20), Yale (0-4, Jan. 20), Santa Clara (0-4, Jan. 21), Clemson (0-7, Jan. 26), Buffalo (0-4, Feb. 11) and Princeton (2-5, Feb. 11).
• The Black Knights will play the University of Portland Friday at 9 a.m., before facing the Vikings the next day.
• The Black Knights are coming off a successful 2017 season in which they went 21-10 overall and 6-1 in Patriot League play. The Black Knights earned the No. 1 seed at the Patriot League tournament, and beat eighth-seeded Lafayette in the quarterfinals, fourth-seeded Boston in the semifinals and second-seeded Navy in the championship en route to the program's 13th Patriot League tournament title. It was the second straight year that the Black Knights beat Navy in the championship match.
• The Black Knights lost to fifth-seeded UCLA, 4-0, in the first round of the NCAA tournament last season.
• The Black Knights return nine players from last year's team, including four of the six players who played singles for the Black Knights in the team's Patriot League championship match against Navy. Michael Nguyen returns after he played at No. 1 singles for the Black Knights in the championship match, while David Mitchell, Myles Conlin and Michael Sienko return after playing at lines four, five and six, respectively.

 
ALL-TIME SERIES VERSUS ARMY:
This Saturday's match will be the first-ever meeting between the Vikings and Black Knights.
 
LAST TIME OUT:
Tommy Edwards and Avery West upset a nationally ranked doubles team to lead the Vikings to a 5-2 win over Idaho State in their Big Sky opener last Saturday. Edwards and West beat Idaho State's No. 1 doubles team of Peter Trhac and David Felix, 6-4, after Trhac and Felix came into the match ranked 50th in the nation by the ITA. Sam Roberts and Otto Holtari also won 7-6 (4) at No. 2 doubles to seal the doubles point for the Vikings, and the team followed with four wins in singles. West was the first player off the court for the Vikings in singles, as he only dropped a game in each set while beating Idaho State's Francis Filipovich 6-1, 6-1 at line three. Senior Nathan Boniel was similarly dominant against Felix at line one, beating him 6-3, 6-2. Roberts followed with a 6-3, 6-4 win over William Edin at No. 4 singles, while Holtari came back after losing the first set at No. 5 singles to beat Keegan Sullivan 5-7, 6-3, 6-4.
 
WEST NAMED BIG SKY PLAYER OF THE WEEK:
Avery West received Big Sky Player of the Week honors after leading the Vikings to their 5-2 win over Idaho State last Saturday. West earned the honor after he and Tommy Edwards upset the Bengals' Peter Trhac and David Felix – the 50th-ranked doubles team in the nation – 6-4, at No. 1 doubles. West also dominated his singles match against the Bengals, as he only lost one game in each set while beating Francis Filipovich 6-1, 6-1 at line three. West is just the sixth Viking men's player to be named Big Sky Player of the Week, and only the second active player, joining senior Nathan Boniel.
 
UPCOMING:
The Vikings remain home for another pair of matches next weekend, as they host Northern Arizona and Northern Colorado at Club Green Meadows in Vancouver, Wash. The Vikings host NAU Friday, Feb. 23, at 10 a.m., and play Northern Colorado Saturday, Feb. 24, at 4:30 p.m.
 
BONIEL'S ASSAULT ON THE PSU RECORD BOOKS:
Senior Nathan Boniel has established himself as the best singles player in the history of the Portland State men's tennis program with the records for overall singles wins (36), overall singles win percentage (.818), Big Sky singles wins (18), wins at No. 1 singles (36) and win percentage at No. 1 singles (.818). Boniel has been adding to those records this season, and has moved up the all-time doubles ranks as well. Boniel has moved up to 10th all time in overall doubles wins (21), and ranks fourth all time in overall doubles win percentage (.542). Additionally, Boniel ranks third in win percentage at No. 3 doubles (.600), and ranks tied for sixth with nine career wins at No. 3 doubles. Boniel also ranks tied for ninth all time with nine wins at No. 1 doubles, and ranks fifth with a .529 career win percentage at No. 1 doubles.
 
TOMMY BOY WONDER:
Sophomore Tommy Edwards is just over a year into his Viking career, but already ranks third all time in overall singles win percentage with a .500 career record at 12-12. Edwards has peppered his name throughout the Vikings' record book in his short career so far, as he also ranks second all time in win percentage at No. 2 singles (.476), and third all time in wins at No. 2 singles (10). Edwards has been an even more dominant doubles player, as he ranks second all time in overall doubles win percentage (.609), and third all time in win percentage at No. 1 doubles (.609). Edwards also ranks fourth all time with 14 career wins at No. 1 doubles, more than half way to the all time record of 26 that Chris Rice (2009-11) and Brent Wheeler (2013-16) currently share.
 
WESTWARDS – THE CELEBRITY COUPLE NAME WE CAN BELIEVE IN:
First there was Bennifer. Didn't last. Then there was TomKat. Didn't last. Brangelina. Didn't last. But with Tommy Edwards and Avery West teaming up for the Vikings in doubles – Westwards as they will hence forth be named – give us a pairing to believe in. Westwards upset the nationally ranked No. 1 doubles team from Idaho State last Saturday, beating the Bengals' Peter Trhac and David Felix 6-4. Trhac and Felix came into the match ranked 50th in the nation by the ITA, after making the finals of the ITA Mountain Regionals, as well as the round of 16 in the Oracle ITA National Fall Championships. Westwards have won five straight matches together at No. 1 doubles with their only loss coming in their first match of the season against Oregon's Armando Soemarno and Charles Roberts. Westwards also beat the No. 1 doubles team from UP in Mike Pervolarakis and Alex Wallace, whose only other loss in doubles to that point came against Old Dominion's No. 1 team that was ranked 22nd nationally by the ITA at the time. Pervolarakis also came into UP's match against the Vikings ranked 18th by the ITA in singles, and was named the 2017 WCC Player of the Year.
 
SINGLES SUCCESS FOR NEWCOMERS:
The trio of Avery West, Sam Roberts and Otto Holtari have shined in singles in their first year within the Viking program. All three rank tied with Viking No. 1 Nathan Boniel for the team lead with four singles wins so far this season. West and Roberts each sport 4-2 records in singles while playing at lines three and four, respectively. Holtari, meanwhile, leads all players with a 4-1 record in singles while splitting time between lines five and six. Roberts' four wins at No. 4 singles already rank only two off the single-season school record of six that Jeff Cero set in 2009. West and Holtari also rank just six wins off the single-season school records for wins at No. 3 and 5 singles, respectively.
 
2017 SEASON RECAP:
Nathan Boniel had another stellar season – going 13-5 at line one and 8-3 in Big Sky matches – but the Vikings finished 4-14 overall and 2-9 in Big Sky play, and never challenged for a spot in the Big Sky tournament like they did in 2016. Tommy Edwards boosted the Vikings with his play as a freshman at line two, where he went 8-7 while playing against much older players. Edwards also went 6-5 in Big Sky play, and teamed up with Boniel to go 9-8 while playing at line one doubles together during the season.