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LEWISTON, Idaho — Progress is a poor substitute for victories, but sometimes it has to do.
 
Two years ago, the Portland State men's tennis team was on the verge of the program's first berth into the Big Sky tournament but went 0-5 on the road in conference matches and came one victory short of a tournament berth.
 
Now the Vikings find themselves challenging for a tournament berth once again this season, but didn't show the same struggles as two years ago in Friday's road conference opener against Idaho.
                                  
The progress came with a grain of salt as the Vikings still lost 4-3 to Idaho Friday, but it's a far cry from the four straight road losses that ended the Vikings' 2016 season in which the Vikings never mustered more than a point. The Vandals also came into the match as the defending Big Sky tournament champions, and improved their conference record this season to 5-0 with the win.
 
The Vikings (8-6, 3-2 Big Sky) had their chances to pull out the win Friday, especially after they took the doubles point to open the match.
 
Sam Roberts and Majeed Bukhari opened doubles with a 6-4 win at line three over Idaho's Felipe Fonseca and Peter Shin. The Vandals took the match at line two, 6-4, but Avery West and Tommy Edwards followed with a 7-5 win over Idaho's Mark Kovacs and Carlos Longhi Neto at line one that clinched the doubles point for the Vikings.
 
Kovacs and Longhi Neto came into the match ranked 53rd in the nation in doubles, making them the second nationally ranked team West and Edwards have beaten this season. West and Edwards also beat Idaho State's Peter Trhac and David Felix, who came into their match against the Vikings ranked 50th in the nation. West and Edwards have won 10 matches together this season, all at line one, and now rank just three wins off the single-season and career records for wins at No. 1 doubles that Ethan Lopez and Brent Wheeler set with 13 wins in 2016.
 
The Vandals quickly turned the match in their favor once it went to singles, however, as they won the first three matches to run out to a 3-1 lead in the dual. West won his match at line three to get the Vikings back within 3-2, but the Vandals followed with their fourth win at line five to clinch the dual.
 
West's win snapped a five-match losing streak for the Viking junior, and came over a player in Idaho's Guilherme Scarpelli, who had been undefeated against Big Sky opponents coming into the match. West and Scarpelli split two tight sets to open their match, with West winning the first set, 6-4, while Scarpelli won the second set in a tiebreaker, 7-6 (5). West ran away with the decisive third set, however, winning 6-1 to hand Scarpelli his first conference loss of the season.
 
Bukhari added a second win in singles for the Vikings at line six, and has now won three of his last four matches since returning to the Vikings' lineup for the team's match at Seattle on March 2. Bukhari lost the first set of his match against Peter Shin, 7-5, but then rebounded to win the second set, 6-2. Bukhari pulled out the ensuing 10-point tiebreaker, 10-6, giving him the 5-7, 6-2, 1-0 (10-6) win.
 
The Vikings have a quick turnaround for their next match, as they play another road match against Eastern Washington Sunday in Cheney, Wash. The Vikings play the Eagles at 12 p.m. Sunday, when they'll have the chance to turn Friday's progress into prosperity.

Idaho 4, Portland State 3
Mar 09, 2018 at Lewiston, Idaho (LCSC Tennis Courts) 

Singles competition

1. LONGHI NETO, Carlos (UI) def. BONIEL, Nathan (PSU) 6-2, 6-3

2. KOVACS, Mark (UI) def. EDWARDS, Tommy (PSU) 6-0, 6-3

3. WEST, Avery (PSU) def. SCARPELLI, Guilherme (UI) 6-4, 6-7 (5-7), 6-1

4. FONSECA, Felipe (UI) def. HOLTARI, Otto (PSU) 6-2, 6-3

5. COUTINHO, Lucas (UI) def. ROBERTS, Sam (PSU) 6-3, 6-4

6. BUKHARI, Majeed (PSU) def. SHIN, Peter (UI) 5-7, 6-2, 1-0 (10-6)

 

Doubles competition

1. WEST, Avery/EDWARDS, Tommy (PSU) def. #53 KOVACS, Mark/LONGHI NETO, Carlos (UI) 7-5

2. COUTINHO, Lucas/SCARPELLI, Guilherme (UI) def. BONIEL, Nathan/SOUZA, Gabe (PSU) 6-4

3. ROBERTS, Sam/BUKHARI, Majeed (PSU) def. FONSECA, Felipe/SHIN, Peter (UI) 6-4

 

Match Notes

Portland State 8-6, 3-2 BSC

Idaho 5-3, 5-0 BSC

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