Complete Match Notes (PDF)

PORTLAND, Ore. — Seattle may not be every Portlander's favorite city – we're looking at you, Timbers Army – but it's where the Portland State men's tennis team finds itself opening a month-long road trip this weekend with a pair of matches against Seattle University and the University of Washington.
 
The Vikings come into the road trip off a 5-2 win over Northern Colorado last Saturday, which snapped a two-match losing streak for the Vikings against a pair of defending conference champions in Army (Patriot League champions) and Northern Arizona (Big Sky regular-season champions).
 
A number of Vikings snapped individual losing streaks in the match, none more emphatically than Tommy Edwards, who only dropped one game while beating the Bears' Michael Kritzinger 6-1, 6-0 at line three. That win snapped a four-match losing streak for Edwards, and marked his first win over a Division I opponent this season.
 
Edwards and doubles partner Avery West also snapped a mini-two-match losing streak at No. 1 doubles, as they beat the Bears' Connor Finerty and Cassell King 6-2 for their seventh win together this season. Nathan Boniel had lost two matches in a row in singles, as well, before getting back in the win column with a 6-2, 1-6, 6-3 victory over Finerty.
 
Sam Roberts snapped a three-match losing streak in singles while following Edwards as the second Viking player off the court with a 6-1, 6-4 win over the Bears' Tommy Smalley at line five.
 
The Vikings also extended a pair of win streaks in their match against the Bears, with Otto Holtari winning his sixth straight singles match, while Boniel and Gabe Souza won their third straight match together in doubles.
 
Holtari won in his debut at line four against the Bears, two spots higher than he was playing when the Vikings last played the Redhawks on Jan. 27. The Vikings won that match, 5-2, with Boniel, West, Roberts and Holtari all winning for the Vikings in singles. The Vikings also won the doubles point against the Redhawks in their last match against each other, with Edwards and West winning at line one while Boniel and Souza won at line three.
 
Doubles has been a struggle for the Redhawks all season, as they've won the doubles point in just one match against a Division I team. Two of the Redhawks' three wins against Big Sky opponents came after losing the doubles point, however, as the Redhawks came back to beat Idaho State, 4-3, on Feb. 11, and beat Southern Utah, 5-2, on Feb. 17.
 
Trenton Nield has returned to the top of the Redhawks' singles lineup, after he missed the team's first match against the Vikings this season. Nield played Boniel at line one in both of the Redhawks' matches against the Vikings last season, with Boniel winning in straight sets both times.
 
The match against the Redhawks gets underway late at 7:30 p.m. Friday, and the Vikings will have a quick turnaround before facing one of the tougher opponents on their schedule this season in the University of Washington out of the Pac-12.
 
The Huskies are the third team the Vikings will have played this season that made the NCAA tournament last season. The previous two were Oregon and Army, and the Vikings lost both matches by 7-0 and 6-1 scores, respectively.
 
The Huskies come into the weekend ranked 47th in the nation by the ITA. Additionally, Mitch Stewart and Jake Douglas rank 57th and 73rd nationally in singles, respectively, while the pair has split time at lines one and two this season.
 
The Vikings' match against the Huskies gets underway at 3 p.m. Saturday.
 
MATCH INFO:
Friday, March 2 – at Seattle – Seattle, Wash. (Tennis Center at Sand Point) – 7:30 p.m.
Saturday, March 3 – at Washington – Seattle, Wash. (Nordstrom Tennis Center) – 3 p.m.
 
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.
 
LIVE VIDEO:
The Vikings' match against Washington will be live streamed online. Fans can find the link to the live video stream on the men's tennis schedule page on GoViks.com.
 
LIVE RESULTS:
Live results will be available from the Vikings' match against Washington on Saturday. Fans can find the link to live results on the men's tennis schedule page on GoViks.com.
 
SCOUTING SEATTLE:

• The Seattle Redhawks (6-5) have won six of their last eight matches after going 0-3 to start the season. The Redhawks' two losses in their recent stretch have come against Pac-12 opponents UCLA and Washington, with the Redhawks losing 7-0 both times.
• The Redhawks have defeated three different Big Sky teams during their recent hot streak, beating Idaho State, 4-3, on Feb. 11, Southern Utah, 5-2, on Feb. 17, and Northern Colorado 6-1, on Feb. 23.
• The Redhawks lost 5-2 to the Vikings in their season opener back on Jan. 27, with the Vikings winning the doubles point and taking four of the six singles matches in straight sets.
• Trenton Nield has returned to the top of the Redhawks' singles lineup after missing the team's first match against the Vikings this season. Viking No. 1 Nathan Boniel played Nield twice last season, and beat him in straight sets both times.
• The Redhawks have struggled in doubles this season, as nine of their 12 doubles wins have come against NCAA Division III teams. The Redhawks have won the doubles point against just one Division I team, which came against Northern Colorado last Friday.
• The Redhawks came back to beat Idaho State and Southern Utah after losing the doubles point. The Redhawks swept the matches at lines three through six to beat the Bengals, and won five of the six singles matches against the Thunderbirds.

 
ALL-TIME SERIES VERSUS SEATTLE:
The Vikings increased their lead over the Redhawks in their head-to-head to 8-5 after beating the Redhawks 5-2 at home on Jan. 27. The Redhawks still own a 4-3 lead in the past seven matches between the Vikings and Redhawks, however, and beat the Vikings 4-3 in a pair of matches last season.
 
SCOUTING WASHINGTON:

• The Washington Huskies (7-4) come into the match ranked 47th in the nation by the ITA. The Huskies snapped a three-match losing streak with a 7-0 win over Seattle University on Feb. 24. The Huskies' three straight losses all came to ranked opponents, however, as they lost to then-No. 1 Wake Forest, 4-0, then-No. 9 Oklahoma State, 4-1, and then-No. 12 Baylor, 4-1.
• The Huskies have already played one Big Sky team this season in Eastern Washington, which they beat 7-0 at home on Jan. 13.
• The Huskies went 12-12 overall last season, and lost in the first round of the NCAA tournament, 4-2, to Tulane.
• The Huskies lost only two seniors off last year's team, and have an upperclassmen-heavy roster this season with three seniors and four juniors.
• Mitch Stewart and Jake Douglas come into the weekend ranked 57th and 73rd nationally in singles, respectively. The two of them have split time at lines one and two this season, with Douglas 5-1 and 3-0 between lines one and two, while Stewart has gone 2-1 at line one and 5-0 at line two.

 
ALL-TIME SERIES VERSUS WASHINGTON:
The Vikings lost their only previous match against the Huskies, 7-0, back in 2015.
 
LAST TIME OUT:
The Vikings split a pair of Big Sky matches against Northern Arizona and Northern Colorado last weekend. The Vikings lost a closer-than-it-appeared 6-1 match to NAU Friday, with Otto Holtari providing the lone point for the Vikings with a 6-4, 7-6 (4) win over NAU's Sebastian Eguez at line five. The Vikings rebounded for a 5-2 win over the Bears Saturday, with three of the Vikings' four wins in singles coming in straight sets. Tommy Edwards was the first player off the court for the Vikings in singles, as he only dropped one game while beating the Bears' Michael Kritzinger 6-1, 6-0 at line three. Sam Roberts followed shortly after with a 6-1, 6-4 win over Tommy Smalley at line five, while Otto Holtari beat Nick Wade 6-3, 6-3 at line four. Nathan Boniel added a fourth win for the Vikings at No. 1 singles, beating the Bears' Connor Finerty 6-2, 1-6, 6-3. The Vikings also won the doubles point behind 6-2 and 6-3 wins at lines one and two, respectively, and the Vikings lost the third doubles match in a tiebreaker. Boniel and Gabe Souza won the match at line two for the Vikings, which was their third straight win together and sixth of the season.
 
UPCOMING:
The Vikings remain on the road for three matches next weekend. The Vikings play Lewis-Clark State out of the NAIA on March 8, and then return to Big Sky play for matches at Idaho and Eastern Washington on March 9 and 11, respectively.
 
WINS ARE BECOMING OTTO-MATIC:
Freshman Otto Holtari continued his hot streak with two more wins in singles last weekend, and has now won six matches in a row. Holtari leads the Vikings with eight wins in singles, and sports a team-best 8-1 overall mark in singles. Holtari won his last match at line four, after winning five in a row at line five. Holtari twice provided the lone point for the Vikings in a dual during his win streak, as he was the only Viking to win in singles in the Vikings' matches against Army (Feb. 17) and Northern Arizona (Feb. 23).
 
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 (38), overall singles win percentage (.792), Big Sky singles wins (20), wins at No. 1 singles (38) and win percentage at No. 1 singles (.792). 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 (24), and ranks third all time in overall doubles win percentage (.558). Additionally, Boniel ranks tied for seventh with 12 Big Sky doubles wins, and ranks in the top 10 all time for wins at line one and three.
 
TOMMY BOY WONDER:
Sophomore Tommy Edwards is just over a year into his Viking career, but has peppered his name throughout the Vikings' record book in his short career, particularly in doubles. Edwards already ranks second all time in overall doubles win percentage (.593), and ranks fourth all time in wins at No. 1 doubles with 16 in his career. Edwards also moved into the top 10 for Big Sky doubles wins with the eighth of his career in the Vikings' win over Northern Colorado last Saturday. Additionally, Edwards ranks fourth all time in win percentage at No. 1 doubles at .593.
 
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 henceforth be named – give us a pairing to believe in. Westwards has gone 7-3 while playing at No. 1 doubles together, a record that gives them the all-time lead in win percentage at No. 1 doubles by a doubles team. Westwards also already rank tied for sixth all time in wins at No. 1 doubles by a doubles team, and stand just six wins from tying the record that Ethan Lopez and Brent Wheeler set with 13 wins together from 2015-16. Westwards upset the nationally ranked No. 1 doubles team from Idaho State on Feb. 10, 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. The win over the nationally ranked team was one of six in a row for Westwards, who had their streak snapped in the team's last match against Army. 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.
 
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.