RESULTS - PDF | HTML

VANCOUVER, Wash. — The Portland State men's tennis team shook off the North Dakota Fighting Hawks quicker than a Seattle Mariners pitcher and a bald eagle Friday, as the Vikings beat the Fighting Hawks 7-0 at Club Green Meadows.
 
The Vikings (11-8, 5-4 Big Sky) did not drop a set against UND (2-13, 1-9 Big Sky), and swept both completed doubles matches. The Vikings hadn't beaten another Big Sky team 7-0 since they beat Southern Utah 7-0 on March 11, 2016. Additionally, the Vikings matched the single-season record for Big Sky wins with their fifth of the season Friday, and moved within a win of tying the single-season record for overall wins.
 
"This was a really solid, convincing win – 7-0 over North Dakota, a team we lost to last year on the road and who had beaten Sac State earlier in the year," PSU head coach Toby Krauel said. "To not drop a set and have some pretty awkward scores, the guys played really, really well today. It's going to help us go on the road to Montana and Montana State. We've been a good road team this year and I think we're really playing well at spots and improving."
 
Friday's win gives the Vikings' momentum going into their final weekend of the regular season next week, when they'll face Montana and Montana State in a pair of critical matches. The Vikings will need to win at least one of the two matches as they currently sit seventh in the Big Sky standings – out of the potential six-team field for the conference tournament at the end of the season. A win over either Montana school would help the Vikings gain in the standings, as they try to leapfrog a team and make the Big Sky tournament for the first time in program history.
 
The Vikings first needed to beat the Fighting Hawks Friday, which they did with relative ease. The Fighting Hawks came out strong in doubles, as they went up two breaks at 5-2 at line two, and remained on serve in the other two matches. Nathan Boniel and Gabe Souza erased both breaks for the Vikings in the match at line two, however, while the Vikings broke for late leads in the matches at lines one and three. Avery West and Tommy Edwards broke at 5-all against North Dakota's Lukas Buth and Daniel Martinez at line one, and then served out the match in the following game for a 7-5 win. Sam Roberts and Majeed Bukhari matched that exact progression at line three, as they broke late and then served out their match against North Dakota's Annei Laska and Hunter Terrell, 7-5.
 
West and Edwards' win gave them 13 doubles win together at line one this season, matching the single-season records for overall doubles wins and wins at No. 1 doubles that Ethan Lopez and Brent Wheeler set in 2016. West and Edwards also improved their win percentage to .684 with their win Friday, which would set another single-season if the season ended today.
 
Edwards carried that momentum into his singles match, as he only dropped two games while beating Laska 6-2, 6-0 at line three.
 
West also dominated his match against Martinez at line two, winning in straight sets, 6-2, 6-4.
 
"It was nice for Avery to get a win at line two. He hadn't won a match at line two in conference, and he served awesome today," Krauel said.
 
Roberts and fellow freshmen Otto Holtari played the most dominant singles matches of the day for the Vikings, as they only dropped one game each at lines four and five, respectively. Both Roberts and Holtari won their matches 6-0, 6-1, with Roberts beating UND's Davide Callegari and Holtari beating UND's Alex Mailes.
 
Holtari's win at line five clinched the match for the Vikings, and Boniel followed shortly after with a 6-3, 6-3 win over Buth at line one. The win will go down as Boniel's last home win as a Viking, and extended his career records for overall singles wins (43), overall singles win percentage (.754), Big Sky singles wins (22), wins at No. 1 singles (43) and win percentage at No. 1 singles (.754). Boniel has won 15 more matches than anybody else in program history, and he still has at least two more matches to go on the road next weekend.
 
"Honoring Nathan in his last home match, this was a good way to do it. He played really super-solid tennis against a good player from North Dakota," Krauel said.
 
Souza capped the win for the Vikings Friday with the team's sixth straight-sets win over UND's Hunter Terrell. Souza dominated the first set, 6-0, but then had to pull out a tricky second set, 7-5.
 
The Vikings return to action next Friday, when they'll open their crucial Montana road trip with a match against Montana State in Bozeman at 10 a.m. The Vikings will then conclude their regular season against Montana at 11 a.m. next Sunday, April 15. 
 
Portland State 7, North Dakota 0
Apr 6, 2018 at Vancouver, Wash. (Club Green Meadows) 

Singles competition

1. BONIEL, Nathan (PSU) def. Buth, Lukas (UND) 6-3, 6-3

2. WEST, Avery (PSU) def. Martinez, Daniel (UND) 6-2, 6-4

3. EDWARDS, Tommy (PSU) def. Laska, Annei (UND) 6-2, 6-0

4. ROBERTS, Sam (PSU) def. Callegari, Davide (UND) 6-0, 6-1

5. HOLTARI, Otto (PSU) def. Mailes, Alex (UND) 6-0, 6-1

6. SOUZA, Gabe (PSU) def. Terrell, Hunter (UND) 6-0, 7-5

 

Doubles competition

1. WEST, Avery/EDWARDS, Tommy (PSU) def. Buth, Lukas/Martinez, Daniel (UND) 7-5

2. BONIEL, Nathan/SOUZA, Gabe (PSU) vs. Callegari, Davide/Mailes, Alex (UND) 5-6, unfinished

3. ROBERTS, Sam/BUKHARI, Majeed (PSU) def. Laska, Annei/Terrell, Hunter (UND) 7-5

 

Match Notes

North Dakota 2-13, 1-9 BSC

Portland State 11-8, 5-4 BSC