Last season, the Portland State men's tennis team put together a season like none seen before on the Park Blocks. After making a surprising run to the Big Sky tournament for the first time in school history, Weber State knocked the Vikings out in the quarterfinal to seemingly end the historic run.

But who ever said that historic runs can only last a year?

2018 laid the foundation. 2019 promises to build upon that with what head coach Toby Krauel thinks is "definitely" the most talented Vikings team ever.

"I'm super excited about this roster and these guys," Krauel said. "They're super talented and very hard working, as well as cohesive. They get along really well and I expect them to play at an even higher level than the team last year."

This season, the Vikings enter not as underdogs who have never been there before, but as legit contenders to make the Big Sky Conference Championship. Krauel, who enters his sixth season at the helm, returns five letterwinners from last year's team.

They lost a key piece from the best-ever team of 2018 in Nathan Boniel, who left Portland State as the all-time leader in five different categories. It will be very difficult to fill the shoes of Boniel, the only three-time All-Big Sky honoree in Viking history, but a great recruiting class paired with talented returners should give Portland State the deepest team in its history.

Tommy Edwards and Avery West, second team All-Big Sky honorees last season, lead the returners. The doubles team known as Westwards set single-season program records for overall wins (15), wins at No. 1 doubles (15) and win percentage at No. 1 doubles (.682).

West and Edwards excel at doubles, but also held down the second and third lines of singles. Sam Roberts and Otto Holtari both return as well. In West, Edwards, Roberts and Holtari, the Vikings have four of the six best singles players by win percentage in program history.

The four players also all make the top 20 in total wins in program history, putting some of the most talented Vikings in history all on the same roster.

Majeed Bukhari also saw plenty of action in the spring last year. Bukhari split time between lines five and six, finishing with a 6-7 record. He also finished with a 6-7 record while playing doubles, where he could see a lot of action in 2019.

The newcomers made an instant impact in the fall season, none more so than Matteo Fortini. The Italian sophomore finished the fall 7-5 in singles. He reached the semifinal of the Dar Walters Classic, won two matches at the ITA Northwest Regional, and made the quarterfinals of both the Gonzaga Fall Invitational and the Duck Invitational.

Nikola Dimitrijevic and Lucas Castelo Branco also bring a lot of excitement to the Viking program. The two combined for seven singles and five doubles wins in the fall.

The biggest task ahead of Krauel will be replacing Boniel, but the depth that this team has could very easily negate that loss. There are some returners from last year's team and a couple of newcomers that will be battling for the top spot.

"I think likely to be number one is Matteo (Fortini), but Tommy Edwards had a really good fall as well and he was very successful at number two as a freshman. Lucas Branco played number one at his old school and then transferred here and had some great wins in the fall; he's a very talented player. Avery West has also had good success over the last year and a half. We have any one of four guys that I think could play number one on any given day," Krauel said.

All told, the Vikings go at least eight deep. The competitiveness within the team could help make the Vikings even better come time for Big Sky play. A difficult non-conference should prepare them for a Big Sky season and, if all goes to plan, a repeat trip to Phoenix and the Big Sky Championships.

"We have a very, very good team," Krauel said. "It is going to be exciting, it is going to be fun and they are just excellent ambassadors for Portland State on the court, in the classroom and just great competitors. It's going to be fun to watch them grow."

SCOUTING SEATTLE
-The Redhawks finished the 2018 season 10-13 overall and 2-3 in the WAC. They finished fourth in the WAC and were eliminated in the first round of the conference tournament by UTRGV.
-Joey Barnes took over as the programs head coach of the Redhawks in October. The match against Portland State will be the first of his career.
-Colton Weeldreyer returns after a 16-win season in 2018. Emilio Monroy (15), Arshak Ghazaryan (12) and Alex Chan (11) all had double-digit wins last season as well.
-Ghazaryan and Monroy were the top doubles team for the Redhawks last year, winning eight matches.

ALL-TIME SERIES VERSUS SEATTLE
Portland State leads the all-time series 9-5. The Vikings have won the last two meetings - a season sweep in 2018 - and four of the last six.

In their last meeting, the Vikings came back after dropping the doubles point to win 4-3. Nathan Boniel (No. 1), Tommy Edwards (No. 3), Sam Roberts (No. 5) and Majeed Bukhari (No. 6) all picked up wins for the Vikings.

SCOUTING PORTLAND
-The Pilots went 12-9 overall and 6-3 in the WCC. The Pilots reached the semifinal of the conference tournament, where they were eliminated by #41 San Diego.
-It is a rebuilding year for Portland, who saw six players graduate at the conclusion of last season. Despite that, Portland had a successful fall season with a roster that includes six true freshmen. It was the upperclassmen that led the way, with lone senior Carlos Donat putting together an impressive 12-4 record through the fall.
-Freshman Nicklas Oberg reached the Round of 16 at ITA Regionals. He also reached the doubles final of the Duck Invitational while paired with fellow freshman Eleftherios Neos. They had several other players, including Issa Yoshida and Leo Hibi, reach the finals of fall tournaments.

ALL-TIME SERIES VERSUS PORTLAND
Portland State trails the all-time series 0-11. They have played nine of those 11 matches on the road and have never taken more than one game off of the Pilots.

In last year's match, the doubles team of Westwards won at the No. 1 line but the Vikings weren't able to claim the doubles point. Avery West (No. 3) and Sam Roberts (No. 4) each went three sets, but the Vikings weren't able to get any wins and fell 7-0.

WESTWARDS!

The talented doubles team of Avery West and Tommy Edwards, nicknamed Westwards when playing together, return for their second year together after a historic debut season. The pair set single-season program records for overall wins (15), wins at No. 1 doubles (15) and win percentage at No. 1 doubles (.682).

All signs point to them holding down the No. 1 spot again this season, where they could make a run at some career program records. Westwards have 15 wins together as a team, fourth most in program history. They trail the all-time leaders, Ethan Lopez and Brent Wheeler, by seven total wins.

Edwards (24) and West (15) each could crack the top 10 in all-time doubles wins by an individual this year as well. Edwards currently sits in 11th place all time with a 24-15 record. West is in 14th all time with a 15-7 record.

The pair is also third in program history with seven Big Sky doubles wins.

"They've played really well the last year and a half," Krauel said of his top team. "They didn't have the great results this fall that we had hoped, but they were an all-conference team last year. They showed some signs at the ITA of playing at a really high level and I think once we get some regular match play they will be a force at No. 1 just like they were last year."

TOMMY, BOY WONDER

In addition to being part of the talented Westwards doubles team (see above for more info), Tommy Edwards has also made a name for himself as one of the best singles players in Vikings history.

Edwards has the most singles wins of any active Viking and is currently 10th on the all-time list with 18 wins. He has picked up 11 of his wins at the No. 2 line while seven have come while playing No. 3.

The junior from Hillsboro is also seventh all-time in Big Sky singles wins with nine. He would crack the top five with a single Big Sky win and could rise as high as second place this season. Edwards also has the second best career winning percentage at No. 3 singles (.538) and the third best percentage at No. 2 (.393).

STRENGTH IN NUMBERS

This season's iteration of Portland State tennis benefits from having talent in bunches. The Vikings have perhaps the deepest team in school history. There are 10 players currently on the roster with at least eight in consideration for a spot on the travelling team.

The amount of talent on the courts at practice sessions can only help the team grow as a whole.

"The depth is better than we've ever had here," Krauel said. "We could put our number eight guy at three and he would do fine. So that competition day in, day out in practice, these guys are really pushing each other… There are personal goals going on as well as team goals, and that competition just makes us so much stronger from top-to-bottom."

WINNING WAYS

The Vikings have four players currently in the top six of the overall singles winning percentage category of the record book. Otto Holtari (.545, 2nd), Avery West (.524, 3rd), Sam Roberts (.500, 5th) and Tommy Edwards (.439, 6th) have been some of the most efficient players in Viking history.

The wins piled up last year, putting several players within shot of recording the most wins at a certain line. Edwards is third all time for wins at No. 2 singles with 11. He trails the all time leader by 12 wins.

West is eight wins away from becoming the all time leader at No. 3 singles, a feat he could pull off if he matches his performance from last season. Roberts needs just one win at No. 4 singles to tie the all-time mark of nine set by Jeff Cero from 2008-11. Holtari is five wins away from being the best No. 5 player ever for the Vikings.

TOURNEY TEAM

In 2018, the Vikings made the Big Sky conference tournament for the first-time ever under its current format. This year, they are looking to build upon that success with another run at the Big Sky Championships held at the end of April in Phoenix, Ariz.  

In the Big Sky preseason poll, voted on by the conference's coaches, the Vikings were tabbed as a top-six team again. Portland State edged out Sacramento State by one point for sixth place. The top six teams qualify for the tournament, with the top two teams each receiving a first-round bye.

Krauel said that the conference is extremely deep, so each and every match will be crucially important.

"On any given day in this conference any team could beat any other team…  (Our team) has done it in the past in winning 4-3 matches at Montana State and Eastern Washington last year and this year we will rely on those experiences - being under pressure, getting to a conference tournament - to go farther," Krauel said.

2019 Big Sky Men's Tennis Preseason Poll
1. Northern Arizona – 98 (8)
2. Montana – 74
3. Idaho – 72 (2)
4. Southern Utah – 69 (1)
5. Weber State – 68
6. Portland State – 58
7. Sacramento State – 57
8. Montana State – 38
9. Idaho State – 36
10. Eastern Washington – 25
11. Northern Colorado – 10

KRAUEL'S QUEST FOR 50

Head coach Toby Krauel, now in his sixth season at Portland State, has already earned more wins than any other coach in program history. At 41-62 all-time, Krauel is just nine wins away from being the first coach to 50 career wins.

Krauel has helped lead Portland State to heights unseen before his arrival. The Vikings have put together the two most successful years in program history under his guidance with a 12-win season in 2016 and last year's 13-win campaign.

He would be the third Viking tennis coach to reach the 50-win mark, joining current women's coach Jay Sterling (53) and former women's coach Shaun Ball (76).