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PHOENIX, Ariz. — Historic runs eventually have to turn into just, plain history as the 2018 Portland State men's tennis season did Thursday afternoon with a 4-1 loss to fourth-seeded Weber State in the Big Sky quarterfinals at the Phoenix Tennis Center.
 
The Wildcats (12-9) eliminated the Vikings from the Big Sky tournament with a close doubles-point victory, and then straight-sets wins at lines one, two and five.
 
"Doubles kind of set the tone," Portland State head coach Toby Krauel said of the match afterwards. "We couldn't get it done at one and two [in singles] and their five is very, very strong. It's a good team and we were just a little, maybe, younger and a little less experienced in these big matches."
 
The Vikings were making their first-ever appearance in the Big Sky tournament, under its current format, after setting a plethora of program records during the season. Besides the historic Big Sky tournament qualification, the Vikings set program records for:
 

• Most overall wins in a season (13)
• Most Big Sky wins in season (6)
• First winning record in Big Sky play (6-5)
• Highest finish in the Big Sky standings (fifth)
• Most road wins in a season (6)

 
The Vikings weren't able to add those records Thursday, however, as the Wildcats picked up big early momentum with the doubles-point victory, and rode that into singles.
 
The Vikings and Wildcats split dominant wins at lines one and three in doubles, with Sam Roberts and Majeed Bukhari playing probably their best match of the season while beating Weber State's Nick Werner and Hou-En Chen 6-2 at line three. Roberts and Bukhari broke initially to go up 2-1, and then broke again to go up 5-2 before serving out the match in the following game.
 
"Sam and Majeed won both of their matches down here [they also won in the Vikings' match against Arizona Christian in Phoenix Tuesday] and they just kind of rolled through that match and were really strong," Krauel said. 
 
Weber State's Stefan Cooper and Kris Van Wyk, meanwhile, rode an early break to a 6-3 win at No. 1 doubles, leaving the doubles point up to what turned into a bipolar match at line two.
 
Weber State's Cezary Walkusz and Michiel Van Schoor broke the Vikings' Nathan Boniel and Gabe Souza to open the match, but Boniel and Souza rattled off five straight games in response to go up two breaks at 5-1. That's when the bipolar match's mood shifted, however, as Walkusz and Van Schoor won five straight games of their own – twice breaking with the Vikings serving for the match – to go up a break at 6-5.
 
The match shifted again after that, as Boniel and Souza broke to force a tiebreaker, and then took a 4-2 lead at the changeover in the tiebreaker. Walkusz and Van Schoor won five of the final six points of the breaker, however, giving them a 7-6 (5) win that clinched the doubles point for the Wildcats.
 
The Wildcats rode the doubles momentum into the start of singles, and clinched the match early with their straight-sets wins at lines one, two and five.
 
Tommy Edwards gave the Vikings some hope with a straight-sets win over Werner at line three. Edwards made the decisive break to go up 4-3 in the first set, and held that advantage the rest of the way for a 6-4 first-set win. Edwards then went up two breaks at 3-0 in the second set, and held off a couple of comeback attempts from Werner before closing out the match in straight sets. Werner broke to stay in the match at 5-3 in the second set, but Edwards broke back right away to close out a 6-4, 6-3 win.
 
"Tommy Edwards came out and played super solid in singles, and rolled," Kraul said of Edwards.
 
Souza was leading his match at line six when the Wildcats clinched the dual, as he beat Weber State's Bo-Han Li 6-4 in the first set. Both players traded multiple breaks in the set, but Souza maintained a lead throughout and broke in the 10th game to take the set, 6-4.
 
Roberts was also in a tight match at line four against Weber State's Hou-En Chen when the match was called. Roberts fought off two set points in a first-set tiebreaker in the match, but Chen converted on his third set point to take the first set, 7-6 (5). The players were just starting the second set of their match when Van Schoor beat the Vikings' Otto Holtari 6-3, 6-0 at line five to clinch the dual for the Wildcats.
 
Avery West tried to mount a comeback for the Vikings at line two, as he ran out to a 3-0 lead in the second set against Van Wyk after losing the first set, 6-3, despite holding an early lead in the set. Van Wyk rattled off five straight games from there to take a 5-3 lead, however, and then served out the match two games later for a 6-3, 6-4 win.
 
Boniel broke with Cooper serving for the first set at 5-4 at line one to give the Vikings another hope for a comeback. Cooper broke back right away, however, and then served out the set in the following game, 7-5.
 
Cooper broke again to go up 3-2 in the second set, and then saved a couple break points in the following game to solidify his lead at 4-2. Cooper broke again in the final game of the match, giving him a 7-5, 6-3 win.
 
"Weber State is a program that's been coming to the tournament – they didn't come last year – but they've been coming to this tournament and getting to the finals and doing really well for a long time. They've got guys that have advanced deep in this tournament," Krauel said.
 
The Vikings could be one of the more experienced teams at the tournament next season, as they should return all of their players with the exception of Boniel. Boniel leaves the Viking program as the all-time leader in overall singles wins (45), overall singles win percentage (.738), Big Sky singles wins (23), wins at No. 1 singles (45) and win percentage at No. 1 singles (.738).
 
"The guys just set so many records and got here on their own terms and had a great season," Krauel said. "There's great hope in this group with a young team with Sam and Otto as freshmen. We return everybody but one guy so we're super hopeful and excited about the future. We'll just take this and get back to work and keep building on our program and shoot for being here next year when they'll know what it's like to be here. That experience pays off – being in this environment and stepping up on big points. I'm confident we'll go farther in the future."
 
 Weber State 4, Portland State 1
Apr 26, 2018 at Phoenix, Ariz. (Phoenix Tennis Center) 

Singles competition

1. COOPER, Stefan (WSU) def. BONIEL, Nathan (PSU) 7-5, 6-3

2. VAN WYK, Kris (WSU) def. WEST, Avery (PSU) 6-3, 6-4

3. EDWARDS, Tommy (PSU) def. WERNER, Nick (WSU) 6-4, 6-3

4. CHEN, Hou-En (WSU) vs. ROBERTS, Sam (PSU) 7-6 (7-5), unfinished

5. VAN SCHOOR, Michiel (WSU) def. HOLTARI, Otto (PSU) 6-3, 6-0

6. LI, Bo-Han (WSU) vs. SOUZA, Gabe (PSU) 4-6, 2-1, unfinished

 

Doubles competition

1. COOPER, Stefan/VAN WYK, Kris (WSU) def. WEST, Avery/EDWARDS, Tommy (PSU) 6-3

2. WALKUSZ, Cezary/VAN SCHOOR, Michiel (WSU) def. BONIEL, Nathan/SOUZA, Gabe (PSU) 7-6 (7-5)

3. ROBERTS, Sam/BUKHARI, Majeed (PSU) def. WERNER, Nick/CHEN, Hou-En (WSU) 6-2

 

Match Notes

Portland State 13-10

Weber State 12-9

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