Portland State men's tennis, one week removed from what was very nearly the best weekend in program history, will look to get back on a winning streak this Saturday with a lone match at home against Montana State.

The Vikings knocked off two-time defending Big Sky champion Idaho last Friday before dropping a close match to Sacramento State on Saturday night. Portland State entered the weekend a combined 1-31 against its two opponents, but left it just a point short of a sweep.

A program that used to have to chase after the likes of Idaho and Sacramento State now stands on level ground with them. Over the next couple weeks, PSU will need to be comfortable with the bullseye on its back as Montana State, Montana and Eastern Washington come to town.

The Bobcats are in town Saturday for a 1:00 p.m. match in which Portland State should be heavy favorites going in. Vancouver Tennis Center has been good to the Vikings, who are 3-1 at home this year.

The only loss came to Sacramento State, but it came down to the final set on the final court. A five hour long marathon of a dual, the Vikings and Hornets were competitive at nearly every line and in doubles.

The Vikings lost the doubles point, which would prove crucial as they split the singles competition 3-3. Still, doubles has been a strength for PSU this season. The top team of Tommy Edwards and Avery West is 6-2 while the other two Viking teams are 5-2. There have been no changes to the doubles lineup this season, and if it ain't broke…

The singles lineup has also been very consistent for Head Coach Toby Krauel this year, and there aren't many weak spots. Tommy Edwards has a 6-1 record at No. 3 and Nikola Dimitrijevic is a perfect 4-0 while playing at No. 4 to hold down the middle of the lineup. Dimitrijevic has won two straight while Edwards had a dominant win the sparked the rest of the team against Sacramento State.

Lucas Castelo Branco may have had the best week of any Viking and has been very solid at No. 2. He has a 4-3 record there this season, but won both matches last weekend. He shook off a difficult start against Sacramento State in a 2-6, 6-1, 6-4 victory. He needed just two sets to take out Valentin Popescu from Idaho, winning some clutch points in a 6-4, 7-6 victory. His impressive played earned him Big Sky Player of the Week honors.

Matteo Fortini (5-2 at No. 1) and Otto Holtari (3-1 at No. 6) have been great on the bookends as well. The two both dropped tight, competitive matches against Sacramento State. Fortini took on Mikus Losbergs, who was the Big Sky Player of the Week on Feb. 6, falling 7-5, 3-6, 6-2. Holtari nearly won the dual at No. 6, playing in the final match of the night. He lost a dramatic 6-3, 3-6, 7-5 match.

The Vikings have just two wins in program history against Montana State, but after a 4-3 win last year things are trending in the right direction for Portland State.

SCOUTING MONTANA STATE

-The Bobcats are 1-5 on the season and enter the week on a two-match losing streak. They are 0-0 in conference play, but did play and lose a non-conference match against Montana earlier in the season 1-6. A 7-0 decision against Whitman is the only win this year for MSU.
-Montana State will play against Portland Friday before meeting Portland State. This will be the first conference match this season for MSU.
-Joaquin Espinoza has been the top player for the Bobcats this season. He has a 3-1 record while playing at No. 4.
-The doubles team of Flink/Brown has a 3-2 record on the season at No. 1. Flink was part of the top team last year as well. He had a 6-5 lead against West/Edwards when the doubles point was clinched.
-Montana State was picked to finish 8th out of 11 teams in the Big Sky Preseason Poll.

ALL-TIME SERIES VS. MONTANA STATE

The Vikings trail the all-time series vs. Montana State 2-11. The Vikings won last year's meeting 4-3 in Bozeman. The Bobcats won the doubles point in that match, but Nathan Boniel, Avery West, Sam Roberts and Gabe Souza each won in singles for the comeback victory.

Portland State is 1-7 all-time in matches between the two played in Portland. Its last home win in the series came in 2010.

RECORD CHASERS

The season is still early, but the Vikings have a number of players climbing the record books in program history.

Tommy Edwards has moved into a tie for eighth all-time with 24 career singles wins. He is also fifth in school history in overall win percentage (.490), tied for fifth in Big Sky singles wins (10) and second in overall wins at No. 3 (13).

Matteo Fortini, Lucas Castelo Branco and Nikola Dimitrijevic — all PSU newcomers — have already made their way into the record books for career wins. Fortini is tied for sixth with five wins at No. 1 singles, Castelo Branco is tied for eighth with four wins at No. 2 and Dimitrijevic is tied for eighth with four wins at No. 4.

Sam Roberts, in addition to being second with eight wins at No. 4, has moved into the top 10 at No. 5 this season as well. He has four wins on that line, putting him in a tie for sixth overall.

Otto Holtari is also tied for sixth in school history with five wins at No. 6 singles.

The Vikings also have four players currently in the top seven of the overall singles winning percentage category of the record book. Otto Holtari (.593, 2nd), Avery West (.520, 3rd), Tommy Edwards (.490, 5th) and Sam Roberts (.433, 7th) have been some of the most efficient players in Viking history.

GO BRANCO GO

Lucas Castelo Branco has been an outstanding addition to the Viking program this year after transferring in from Oklahoma Baptist. The Brazilian native had his stellar play recognized with the Big Sky Conference Player of the Week honor on Feb. 20 after leading PSU to its first-ever win against two-time defending champs Idaho.

In his singles match against Idaho, he picked up a hard-fought 6-4, 7-6 (2) victory that put the Vikings just one point away from the overall win and helped set up the first-ever victory against the Vandals.

He helped motivate his teammates down the stretch of the Sacramento State match with a gutsy 2-6, 6-1, 6-4 win. He and Fortini both dropped the opening set, giving the Hornets a lot of momentum after winning the doubles point as well. Castelo Branco turned the tide of the match, cruising in the second set and hitting plenty of big shots that rallied the crowd inside the Vancouver Tennis Center. He held on in a tough third set for the win which put the Vikings ahead 3-2 at the time.

Castelo Branco is 5-3 on the season in singles and 5-2 in doubles, playing at No. 2 in both. He has already cracked the top 10 in school history for wins at No. 2 singles with four. He is also nearly halfway to the school season record (9) for wins at No. 2.

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).

Westwards have 21 wins together as a team, tied for second-most in program history. They trail the all-time leaders, Ethan Lopez and Brent Wheeler, by just one win.

Edwards (30), is in third place in doubles wins by an individual, and West (21) could crack into the top 10 as well. West is tied for 11th all time with a 21-9 record.

The pair is also third in program history with eight 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 tied for 7th on the all-time list with 24 wins. He has picked up 11 of his wins at the No. 2 line while 13 have come while playing No. 3.

He is second in career wins at No. 2 while being tied for second at No. 3 singles.

The junior from Hillsboro is also tied for fifth all-time in Big Sky singles wins with 10. He could rise as high as second place this season. Edwards also has the second best career winning percentage at No. 3 singles (.650) and the third best percentage at No. 2 (.393).

FORZA FORTINI

Italian sophomore Matteo Fortini hasn't waited long to make a big impact for the Vikings. He put together an impressive fall season with a 7-5 record that included a run to the semifinals of the Dar Walters Fall Classic at Boise State.

In the spring, he has continued his run of stellar play. He has a 6-2 record overall, 5-2 at No. 1 singles. He also played one match, which he won, at No. 2. In doubles, he and Lucas Castelo Branco have a 5-2 record while playing on court two.

Fortini has cracked the top 10 in career wins at No. 1 singles and could end the season with the third most wins in that spot in program history.

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."

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.
 
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 46-65 all-time, Krauel is just four 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).