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VANCOUVER, Wash. — Saúde, Souza!
 
Down breaks in the second and third sets at No. 6 singles, Gabe Souza climbed back to win both sets and clinch a 4-3 comeback win for the Portland State men's tennis team over Southern Utah Friday afternoon at Club Green Meadows.
 
The Vikings (5-2, 2-0 Big Sky) trailed 3-1 as a team after losing the doubles point and matches at Nos. 2 and 4 singles to the Thunderbirds (1-4, 0-3 Big Sky). Otto Holtari and Avery West pulled out three-set wins at lines three and five, respectively, however, and Souza completed the comeback with a 4-6, 7-6 (4), 7-5 win at line six.
 
The comeback win extends the Vikings' early season momentum after they opened Big Sky play with a 5-2 win over Idaho State last Saturday. The Vikings have now won three matches in a row, none bigger than Friday, which was exactly the type of win they'll if they hope to clinch a berth into the Big Sky tournament at the end of April.
 
Souza provided the heroics at line six in what was easily the match of the day for the Vikings. Souza and SUU's Remus Cope played a level first set against each other, until Cope broke at 4-all, and then served out the set in the following game.
 
Cope and Souza traded breaks early in the second set, but Cope went back up a break at 3-2 and held that advantage for a 5-3 lead. The Thunderbirds had wrapped up the wins at lines two and four by then, meaning if Cope could just hold serve then he'd clinch the dual for the Thunderbirds with a straight-sets win. Souza broke with Cope serving for the match at 5-4, however, and the players went to a second-set tiebreaker after that. Souza trailed 3-4 in the second-set tiebreaker but won the final four games to force a third set.
 
Cope ran out to another early lead in the third set at 3-0, but Souza responded once again – breaking with Cope serving at 3-1 and then holding off two break points in his following service game to get to 3-all. Souza then made the decisive break at 5-all, and served out the match in the following game to clinch the win for the Vikings.
 
West put Souza in the position to clinch the dual for the Vikings, after he overcame a frustrating second set to win his match at line three and level the dual at 3-3.
 
West cruised in the first set of his match against Agustin Tamagnone, winning 6-2, and then went up two breaks at 4-1 in the second set. Tamagnone turned things around after that, however, winning six of the final seven games to level the match at a set all with a 7-5 win.
 
West rebounded to break in the opening game of the third set, and broke again after Tamagnone had gotten back on serve to go up 4-3. West found trouble again when he was serving for the match at 5-4, but saved two break points to serve out a 6-2, 5-7, 6-4 win.
 
West's win came right as Souza broke to stay in the second set of his match, and the momentum carried the Vikings from there.
 
Holtari won his own three-set match at line five, where he recovered from a poor start against Southern Utah's José Ortega. Holari went down 5-2 in the first set against Ortega, but won the next three games to get back level at 5-all.
 
Ortega broke in the final game of the set to win, 7-5, but Holari ran out to a two-break, 3-0 lead at the start of the second set. Ortega got one of the breaks back in the following game, but Holtari broke again to go up 5-2 and then served out the match in his following service game.
 
Holtari got the first break of the third set at 2-1, and held that advantage the rest of the way before serving out the match for a 5-7, 6-2, 6-4 win.
 
Senior Nathan Boniel provided the first win for the Vikings in singles, as he dominated in a 6-2, 6-1 win over Southern Utah's Conor Tordoff at line one. Tordoff broke Boniel in the first game of their match, but Boniel won 12 of the final 14 games to wrap up the win.

West and sophomore Tommy Edwards also won their sixth straight match together at No. 1 doubles with a 6-3 win over Tamagnone and Pablo Guerra. West and Edwards, nicknamed Westwards, beat a nationally ranked doubles team in the Vikings' win over Idaho State last week, as they beat Idaho State's Peter Trhac and David Felix, who came into the match ranked 50th in the nation.
 
The Vikings also came back to beat the Thunderbirds, 4-3, after losing the doubles point last season. Then-senior Ethan Lopez saved three match points with the dual tied 3-3 last season, and Souza took up the baton from Lopez Friday.
 
The Vikings get back in action tomorrow with a non-conference match against Army West Point, which lost 7-0 to the University of Portland Friday. First serve between the Vikings and Black Knights will be at 2 p.m. at Club Green Meadows.

Portland State 4, Southern Utah 3
Feb 16, 2018 at Vancouver, Wash. (Club Green Meadows) 

Singles competition

1. BONIEL, Nathan (PSU) def. TORDOFF, Conor (SUU) 6-2, 6-1

2. MORALES, Jonathan (SUU) def. EDWARDS, Tommy (PSU) 6-4, 6-3

3. WEST, Avery (PSU) def. TAMAGNONE, Agustin (SUU) 6-2, 5-7, 6-4

4. FEIGIN, Guy (SUU) def. ROBERTS, Sam (PSU) 3-6, 6-4, 6-2

5. HOLTARI, Otto (PSU) def. ORTEGA, Jose (SUU) 5-7, 6-2, 6-4

6. SOUZA, Gabe (PSU) def. COPE, Remus (SUU) 4-6, 7-6 (7-4), 7-5

 

Doubles competition

1. EDWARDS, Tommy/WEST, Avery (PSU) def. GUERRA, Pablo/TAMAGNONE, Agustin (SUU) 6-3

2. TORDOFF, Conor/MORALES, Jonathan (SUU) def. ROBERTS, Sam/HOLTARI, Otto (PSU) 6-3

3. FEIGIN, Guy/COPE, Remus (SUU) def. BONIEL, Nathan/SOUZA, Gabe (PSU) 6-3

 

Match Notes

Southern Utah 1-4, 0-3 BSC

Portland State 5-2, 2-0 BSC

Order of finish: Doubles (2,3,1); Singles (1,2,4,5,3,6)