RESULTS - PDF | HTML

VANCOUVER, Wash. — 6-1*.
 
The Portland State men's tennis team lost 6-1 to defending Big Sky regular-season champion Northern Arizona Friday, but played tight matches up and down the singles and doubles lineups in what could have been a lot closer match at Club Green Meadows.
 
Otto Holtari provided the lone point for the Vikings (5-4, 2-1 Big Sky) in the dual against the Lumberjacks (2-4, 1-0 Big Sky), as he won his fifth straight match at line five. Holtari beat NAU's Sebastian Eguez 6-4, 7-6 (4), increasing his team-high win total to seven wins this season.
 
Holtari broke to take a 2-1 lead in the first set against Eguez, and then broke again for a 4-3 lead after Eguez broke to get back on serve at 3-all. Holtari held the break advantage until serving out the first set, 6-4.
 
Neither Holtari nor Eguez could break the other in the second set, and the set went to a tiebreaker at 6-all. Holtari won the first three points of the tiebreaker to go up a mini-break, and held that advantage until winning the tiebreaker, 7-4.
 
Holtari's win gave the Vikings their only point in the dual, but the Vikings could have easily scored more points had a few other matches gone their way.
 
No point would have been sweeter for the Vikings than if Nathan Boniel could have pulled out a win over NAU's Tim Handel at No. 1 singles. Boniel and Handel represent the last two Big Sky MVPs, with Boniel winning the conference's top prize in 2016, while Handel followed in 2017. Handel won the honor while going undefeated against Big Sky opponents in 2017, but Boniel nearly handed him his first loss since 2016 in their match Friday.
 
Boniel broke first for a 4-2 lead in the first set of their match, and then broke again in Handel's next service game to take the first set, 6-2. Boniel held and then broke Handel another time for a 2-0 lead at the start of the second set, but Handel found his way back into the match after that.
 
Boniel's break for a 2-0 lead started a run of four straight breaks in the match before Handel finally snapped the run with a hold to get to 3-all. Handel followed with a break to take his first lead at 4-3 in the second set, but then gave up the lead as Boniel broke back for 4-all. Handel broke Boniel for a fourth time in the second set in the following game, however, and then served out the set in the following game to level the match.
 
Handel broke Boniel in the first game of the third set, and then held to take an early 2-0 lead. Boniel won the next three games to get back on serve at 3-2, but Handel responded with a break and a hold to take a 4-3 lead. Boniel matched Handel with a break and a hold to take a 5-4 lead, but Handel won the final three games of the match to close out a 2-6, 6-4, 7-5 win over Boniel.
 
Gabe Souza also nearly gave the Vikings a second point in the dual, as he took NAU's Ruben Montano to a 10-point match tiebreaker at line six. Montano beat Souza 6-3 in the first set of their match, but Souza responded with a 6-1 win in the second set.
 
Souza rode that momentum to an early 5-2 lead in the match tiebreaker, but Montano won the next five points to go up a mini-break at 7-5. Souza won the next three points to get back on serve in the tiebreaker, but Montano matched Souza by winning the next three points to close out a 6-3, 1-6, 1-0 (10-8) win.
 
Tommy Edwards also played a quality match against NAU's Thomas Fisher at line three. Edwards broke to open the match, and then broke again to take a 4-3 lead after Fisher had gotten back on serve. Fisher broke right back to get to 4-all, and the players held serve from there to send the first set to a tiebreaker. Neither player took an early advantage in the tiebreaker, but Fisher eventually converted on his second set point to take the first set, 7-6 (5).
 
Edwards again took an early lead in the second set, as he broke Fisher for a 2-0 lead. Fisher got the break back with Edwards serving at 4-2, however, and then broke to take a 6-5 lead before serving out the match in the following game for a 7-6 (5), 7-5 win.
 
Edwards also suffered a heartbreaker at No. 1 doubles, as he and Avery West had a match point that could have clinched the doubles point for the Vikings. Boniel and Souza beat NAU's Eguez and Lucas Taylor 6-4 at line two to put the Vikings one win away from the doubles point, and West and Edwards held a match point at line one with NAU serving at 3-5.
 
NAU's No. 1 doubles team of Handel and Montano, which won the ITA Mountain Regional earlier this season, saved the match point, however, and then broke in the following game to get back level at 5-all. Both teams held in their next service games to send the match to a tiebreaker, and Handel and Montano won the tiebreaker, 7-4.
 
The Vikings have no time to sulk over what might have been, as they host Northern Colorado in another Big Sky match tomorrow. First serve between the Vikings and Bears will be at 4:30 p.m. (PT) at Club Green Meadows.

Northern Arizona 6, Portland State 1
Feb 23, 2018 at Vancouver, Wash. (Club Green Meadows) 

Singles competition

1. Tim Handel (NAU) def. BONIEL, Nathan (PSU) 2-6, 6-4, 7-5

2. Lucas Taylor (NAU) def. WEST, Avery (PSU) 6-1, 6-0

3. Thomas Fisher (NAU) def. EDWARDS, Tommy (PSU) 7-6 (7-5), 7-5

4. Felix Schumann (NAU) def. ROBERTS, Sam (PSU) 6-4, 6-3

5. HOLTARI, Otto (PSU) def. Sebastian Eguez (NAU) 6-4, 7-6 (7-4)

6. Ruben Montano (NAU) def. SOUZA, Gabe (PSU) 6-3, 1-6, 1-0 (10-8)

 

Doubles competition

1. Tim Handel/Ruben Montano (NAU) def. WEST, Avery/EDWARDS, Tommy (PSU) 7-6 (7-4)

2. BONIEL, Nathan/SOUZA, Gabe (PSU) def. Lucas Taylor/Sebastian Eguez (NAU) 6-4

3. Thomas Fisher/Felix Schumann (NAU) def. ROBERTS, Sam/BUKHARI, Majeed (PSU) 6-2

 

Match Notes

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