The Portland State Vikings are off to the second-best start in program history, winning three of the first four matches, and enter this weekend on a two-match winning streak. The Vikings take on George Fox at home on Friday before a neutral-site matchup against Boise State in Eugene.

The home match on Friday will give the Vikings a chance to get to 4-1. The best start in program history came in 2016, when PSU began the year at 5-1. Perhaps the marquee matchup of the weekend is against Boise State, a 3-1 team from the Mountain West Conference.

This will be the final tuneup for the Vikings before Big Sky Conference play starts next weekend against Idaho. The home match against George Fox starts off a run six home matches out of the next seven overall for the Vikings.

Last weekend brought with it a new program record for Tommy Edwards, who continues his ascent up the record books. He won his 27th career match at No. 1 doubles, the most in program history. The 27 wins also put Edwards in a tie for sixth in overall doubles wins.

The rest of the Vikings also had a successful last weekend as they swept Lewis & Clark and beat Seattle 6-1. Head coach Toby Krauel has found his doubles lineup, with the same three teams playing in every match so far.

The teams are all 3-1 on the year, undefeated both at home and at neutral sites. The team is incredibly deep, and the singles lineup is still in flux entering the last weekend before conference play.

Lucas Castelo Branco had a dominating win against Lewis & Clark, giving him his first chance to play No. 1 singles against Seattle. Matteo Fortini has kept up his run of good play as well, splitting time at No. 1 and No. 2 but getting a win in both matches.

Edwards made history in doubles, but also climbed into ninth place all time with 21 overall singles wins. He put together a perfect weekend while playing at No. 3, sweeping both matches. He moved into third all-time with 10 wins at No. 3 singles, trailing Mitch Somach by two wins.

Avery West and Nikola Dimitrijevic each played one match at No. 4 singles and each picked up a win in their only match of the weekend. Sam Roberts went 1-1 while playing at No. 5 and Otto Holtari won twice at No. 6.

The Vikings have five individuals and all three doubles teams on winning streaks entering this weekend.

SCOUTING GEORGE FOX
-George Fox enters the match with a 1-0 record on the season. They defeated UC Santa Cruz 8-1 in the opening match of the year.
-The Bruins are ranked #32 nationally in D-III and are ranked #8 in their region. The win against UC Santa Cruz (#31/#7) was an upset.
-The Bruins are a D-III team located near Portland.
-George Fox has a 14-player roster. There is one senior, five juniors and eight underclassmen.

ALL-TIME SERIES VS. GEORGE FOX
-The Vikings are 3-0 all-time against the Bruins, with all of the matches hosted by Portland State. The two teams haven't met since 2013 and the Vikings have lost just a single point in the series history.

SCOUTING BOISE STATE
-The Broncos enter the weekend 3-1. They will take on Oregon on Friday before the matchup with the Vikings on what is their first road trip of the year.
-Boise State is 2-0 against Big Sky Conference opponents this season. They defeated Montana State 7-0 in the first match of the year and Idaho State 4-3 last weekend.
-Last season, the Broncos finished 9-19 with a 2-5 mark in the Mountain West.
-Luka Soskic and Simon Arca Costas both enter the weekend with perfect 4-0 records. Soskic has split time at No. 2 and 3 while Costas has played one match at lines three, four, five and six.
-Jack Heslin is 3-1 at the top spot for the Broncos this year.
-Boise State has won 79 percent of its singles matches, the strength of its team. In contrast, the Broncos have won just 60 percent of its doubles matches. They have lost the doubles point twice, including against Idaho State.

ALL-TIME SERIES VS. BOISE STATE
The Vikings trail in the all-time series 0-1. The only match they have played against each other came in 2003, which the Broncos won 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).

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 18 wins together as a team, third most in program history. They trail the all-time leaders, Ethan Lopez and Brent Wheeler, by just four total wins.

Edwards (27), has cracked the top 10 in career doubles wins, and West (18) could crack into the top 10 as well. Edwards currently sits in a tie for 6th place all time with a 27-16 record. West is tied for 13th all time with a 18-8 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 9th on the all-time list with 21 wins. He has picked up 11 of his wins at the No. 2 line while 10 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 (.625) 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 (.600, 2nd), Avery West (.522, 3rd), Tommy Edwards (.466, 5th) and Sam Roberts (.462, 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 both No. 2 (11) and No. 3 (10) 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 and has also cracked the top 10 in career wins at No. 6 singles.

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 45-64 all-time, Krauel is just five 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).