After splitting its matches on the opening weekend, Portland State men's tennis gets set for its first home match of the season on Saturday against Lewis & Clark. The next day, they head north up I-5 to take on Seattle in a rematch of the season opener.

The Vikings kicked off the year with a 6-1 win against Seattle at a neutral site before falling to Portland on the road. Head coach Toby Krauel used the start of the season to test out some different lineups, getting eight different players court time in the first weekend of action.

Newcomers Matteo Fortini and Lucas Castelo Branco held down the top of the lineup well, splitting their matches at lines one and two, respectively. Nikola Dimitrijevic played No. 6 in both matches as well, but Krauel mixed up the middle of the lineup as the Vikings prepare for conference matches.

Tommy Edwards won a match at No. 3 against Seattle, but moved to No. 4 against Portland. He dropped a close match 4-6, 7-6, 0-1 against Eleftherios Neos. Sam Roberts played at No. 4 against Seattle and slide to No. 5 against Portland.

Otto Holtari started the season at No. 5 against Seattle. In the Portland match, Avery West replaced him in the lineup. West moved up to No. 3 in his season debut.

The doubles teams remained the same on the opening weekend and all finished with a 1-1 record. Edwards/West played No. 1, Fortini/Castelo Branco were at No. 2 and Majeed Bukhari/Roberts played No. 3.

Portland State put up an impressive fight against crosstown rival Portland that should give them confidence moving forward. While the Vikings weren't able to take a point off the Pilots, four of the six matches went to a third set. The improvement against Portland, who the Vikings are still winless against in program history, could lead to a positive non-conference season.

The Vikings will be favored in both matches this weekend and they could see Tommy Edwards rise to the top of the PSU record books as he is just one doubles win away from tying for the most doubles wins at No. 1.

SCOUTING LEWIS & CLARK

-The Portland State match will be the season opener for D-III Lewis & Clark, who compete in the Northwest Conference.
-Last season, the Pioneers went 12-6 overall and 7-1 in conference matches. They reached the NWC Championship, where they were defeated by Whitman College 5-1.
-The Pioneers are coached by Jimmy Chau, who is in his first season as head coach. Chau has been at Lewis & Clark since 2005 as an assistant.

ALL-TIME SERIES VS. LEWIS & CLARK

The Vikings lead the all-time series 8-2 against Lewis & Clark. Portland State has won eight consecutive matches in the series and are 3-0 at home against the Pioneers. In the previous eight matches, the Vikings have a 55-1 point advantage over the Pioneers.

SCOUTING SEATTLE

-Seattle is 0-2 on the season. They opened the season with a 6-1 loss against Portland State and followed it up with a 7-0 loss to Oregon.
-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.
-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 VS. SEATTLE

The Vikings lead the all-time series against Seattle 10-5. They have won the previous three meetings, including a 6-1 win in the first match of the season. Portland State is 2-1 in matches played in Seattle.

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).

The pairing is set to hold down the No. 1 spot again this season, where they could make a run at some career program records. Westwards have 16 wins together as a team, fourth most in program history. They trail the all-time leaders, Ethan Lopez and Brent Wheeler, by six total wins.

Edwards (25), has cracked the top 10 in career doubles wins, and West (16) could crack into the top 10 as well. Edwards currently sits in 10th place all time with a 25-16 record. West is tied for 13th all time with a 16-8 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), 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 19 wins. He has picked up 11 of his wins at the No. 2 line while eight 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 (.571) 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 eight making an appearance already this season.

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 (.565, 2nd), Avery West (.500, 4th), Sam Roberts (.458, 5th) and Tommy Edwards (.442, 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 and Edwards are both eight wins away from becoming the all time leader at No. 3 singles. 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 four 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 42-63 all-time, Krauel is just eight 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).