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Portland State University Athletics

PORTLAND STATE VIKINGS
Tommy Edwards
Eric Naslund
3
Portland State PSU (10-5)
4
Winner Air Force AFU (10-10)
Portland State PSU
(10-5)
3
Final
4
Air Force AFU
(10-10)
Winner

Match Recap: Men's Tennis | | Jackson Wagner

Vikings Show Fight in Tight Loss to Air Force

The Portland State men's tennis team may not have been at 100 percent, but it certainly gave Air Force all it could handle in a Friday evening match. The Vikings fell 4-3 to the Falcons in the final non-conference match of the season to fall to 10-6 overall.

Portland State battled in an incredibly close match, and pulled off some impressive comebacks in singles play, but it unfortunately wasn't quite enough.

The night started well, with Portland State claiming the doubles point. Sam Roberts and Majeed Bukhari won quickly (6-3) at No. 3 doubles to give the Vikings an edge. A tiebreaker win at No. 1 for Air Force evened things up, but Matteo Fortini and Nikola Dimitrijevic clinched the first point for the Vikings with a 7-5 win at No. 2.

Air Force took the opening two points of the singles competition, winning at lines four and three. The Vikings brought things back to a tie thanks to a comeback win at No. 1 by Fortini. After dropping the opening set, Fortini rallied for a 4-6, 6-4, 6-2 win at the top spot to tie the dual at 2-2.

The Vikings then retook the lead at No. 2, where Tommy Edwards slid up into Lucas Castelo Branco's spot. Edwards, like Fortini, fell behind early. Edwards picked up a comeback 3-6, 6-1, 6-3 win to put the Vikings ahead 3-2.

The final two spots came out late, but became the deciding courts. Air Force tied the match up again with a two-set win at No. 5, putting all the pressure on the No. 6 court. Majeed Bukhari, playing in his first singles match of the dual season, fought valiantly for the Vikings.

Bukhari fell in the opening set but responded with a tight win in the second. He then dropped the third set, losing the match 6-1, 5-7, 6-2. The win also tilted the dual in favor of the hosts, who claimed the 4-3 win.

Portland State now prepares for the end of Big Sky play. They will take on Northern Colorado on Sunday at 10:00 a.m. The final weekend will then be played on the road against Idaho State and Weber State as the Vikings look to hold position and qualify for the Big Sky Tournament for the second consecutive season.

MATCH NOTES: This was the first meeting ever between the two schools.
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