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SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Moral victories wear thin late in seasons, but the Portland State men's tennis team can claim another one Saturday. The Vikings played a close match against Sacramento State at the Sac State Tennis Courts – a place where they had lost five of their previous seven matches by 7-0 scores – but came out on the wrong end in a 5-2 loss to the Hornets.
The Vikings have been strong on the road this season, as they've tied a program record with four road wins this season, including a 4-3 road win over Eastern Washington where they had never won before. The Vikings also played a close, 4-3 match against defending Big Sky tournament-champion Idaho earlier in the season, but lost that match on March 9.
Saturday's loss puts the Hornets (5-11, 4-3 Big Sky) a half-game ahead of the Vikings (10-8, 4-4 Big Sky) for sixth in the Big Sky standings. The Vikings will need to move back into the top six of the Big Sky if they hope to make the Big Sky tournament at the end of the season. The Vikings will likely need to win at least two of their final three Big Sky matches, which come against North Dakota, Montana State and Montana.
The Vikings made the Hornets sweat a bit late in the match Saturday, as the Vikings won a pair of matches at lines three and six in singles to get to within one at 3-2 in the dual. The Hornets pulled out a pair of three-set matches at lines one and two, however, putting them over the top against the Vikings.
Tommy Edwards started the Vikings' comeback, as he won a three-set match over Sacramento State's Dom Miller at line three. Edwards won a close first set against Miller, 7-5, but then saw Miller dominate the second set for a 6-1 win that leveled the match at a set all. Edwards found his way back into the match in the third set, however, and won the set, 6-3, to take the match.
Gabe Souza followed Edwards with a straight-sets win at line six, his second straight win after he clinched the Vikings' win over Sonoma State Thursday. Souza beat Sacramento State's Donald Hall in a pair of close sets, 6-4, 7-5.
By the time Souza won his match,
Nathan Boniel and
Avery West were in the third sets of their matches at lines one and two, respectively, with the Vikings needing to sweep both matches to pull out the dual.
Boniel came back after a tough first set against Sacramento State's Mikus Losbergs to level their match with a 6-4 win in the second set. Losbergs rebounded to beat Boniel in the third set, however, and clinched the dual for the Hornets with a 6-1, 4-6, 6-3 win.
West nearly added a third win for the Vikings in singles, but lost his match against the Hornets' Kasparas Zemaitelis in a third-set tiebreaker. West and Zemaitelis split the first two sets of their match both by 6-3 scores, but Zemaitelis pulled out the third set, 7-6 (5).
Boniel and Souza won their match at No. 2 doubles against the Hornets, but the Hornets took the doubles point with wins at lines one and three. Boniel and Souza beat the Hornets' Miller and Bernardo Moraes, 6-2, for their 11th win of the season together.
The Vikings return home for their next match, as they host North Dakota in their regular-season home finale Friday, April 6. First serve between the Vikings and Fighting Hawks will be at 12 p.m. at Club Green Meadows in Vancouver, Wash.
Sacramento State 5, Portland State 2
Mar 31, 2018 at Sacramento, Calif. (Sacramento State Tennis Courts)
| Singles competition |
| 1. LOSBERGS, Mikus (SAC) def. BONIEL, Nathan (PSU) 6-1, 4-6, 6-3 |
| 2. ZEMAITELIS, Kasparas (SAC) def. WEST, Avery (PSU) 6-3, 3-6, 7-6 (7-5) |
| 3. EDWARDS, Tommy (PSU) def. MILLER, Dom (SAC) 7-5, 1-6, 6-3 |
| 4. LEGASPI, Hermont (SAC) def. ROBERTS, Sam (PSU) 6-4, 7-6 (7-4) |
| 5. CHABUT, Louis (SAC) def. HOLTARI, Otto (PSU) 6-3, 6-2 |
| 6. SOUZA, Gabe (PSU) def. HALL, Donald (SAC) 6-4, 7-5 |
| Doubles competition |
| 1. LOSBERGS, Mikus/ZEMAITELIS, Kasparas (SAC) def. EDWARDS, Tommy/WEST, Avery (PSU) 6-2 |
| 2. BONIEL, Nathan/SOUZA, Gabe (PSU) def. MILLER, Dom/MORAES, Bernardo (SAC) 6-2 |
| 3. CHABUT, Louis/LEGASPI, Hermont (SAC) def. BUKHARI, Majeed/ROBERTS, Sam (PSU) 6-3 |
| Match Notes |
| Portland State 10-8, 4-4 |
| Sacramento State 5-11, 4-3 |
| Order of finish: Doubles (1,2,3); Singles (5,6,3,1,2,4) |
