Southern Utah held a 3-1 lead in the Big Sky semifinal against Portland State Friday morning, and had comeback from first set losses in two other matches to take what appeared to be complete control of the match. But the Thunderbirds weren't going to get past the Vikings without a fight to the bitter end. It's the Viking way, after all.

Portland State never got discouraged, continuing to work its way back into the match one point at a time. When Matteo Fortini won the No. 1 match 6-4 in the third set, his Viking teammates charged onto the court to embrace him. Fortini's dual-clinching point completed a massive comeback that saw PSU win the final three matches of the day for a 4-3 win and punch its ticket to the Big Sky Championship for the first time in program history.

The toughest test now awaits, but the Vikings will be ready for the challenge. Portland State and top-seeded Northern Arizona will play for the Big Sky title tomorrow morning at 8 a.m.

"We're fearless and we're convicted," head coach Toby Krauel said following the semifinal win. "We're not here to bow down to anybody; we are here to win this tournament. We're not intimidated by them and we know they are a good team but we're a great team too. We're going to lay it all on the line and roll our dice and play our game because we're here to win it."

The Vikings are now 14-7, the most wins and best winning percentage in a single season in program history. The Portland State record books will be completely rewritten following this historic 2019 campaign.

The first match of the day went in favor of the Vikings as Lucas Castelo Branco and Matteo Fortini won their 11th match of the season together at No. 2 doubles. It was the third straight win for the pairing, whose arrival on campus this year led to much of the success this year's team has experienced.

Southern Utah bounced back by taking the final two doubles matches, however, and took the doubles point for the first lead of the day.

The T-Birds followed that up by winning the first point in singles at No. 6 to go ahead 2-0. They held another big lead at No. 3 and won that match just as Sam Roberts delivered the first point of the day for the Vikings. Roberts won 7-5, 6-2 at No. 5 for his ninth win of the season.

"Sam Roberts turned the match around," head coach Toby Krauel said. "He figured out his opponents forehand and started picking on it and once he did that and neutralized his opponents big serve he took control of that match."

Lucas Castelo Branco closed the gap with another win for the Vikings. At No. 2, Castelo Branco won in straight sets 6-2, 7-5 to make the Southern Utah lead just one point. In each of the two remaining matches, Southern Utah bounced back and forced a third set, still just one point away from the clinch.

"Lucas stayed hot against a very good opponent," Krauel said. "He played great tennis and has just been so rock solid."

The fate of the Vikings now rested in the hands of two newcomers to Portland State this year; Matteo Fortini at No. 1 and Nikola Dimitrijevic at No. 4. In the final set, both players came out aggressively and took 4-1 leads. Southern Utah showed no quit, getting back into both matches to add some extra pressure to the finish.

It was a heated conclusion to the match, and not just because of the temperatures in Phoenix. Dimitrijevic was up 5-3 in the third but lost a game and compounded on that by throwing his racquet. A point penalty then put him down 15-0 in the next game. He tied it up at 15-all then n the next point, he hit a passing winner that his opponent called out but was overruled on.

It was the third time in the match that he had been overruled, which led to a point penalty. All of a sudden Dimitrijevic was up 15-40 and he closed it out two points later to tie the dual at 3-all. After the final point, his opponent threw his racquet, which led to a point penalty on the only court still left in action, where Fortini was trying to win it for the Vikings.

And the sophomore from Italy came through. After his opponent Salvador Mijares rallied back to tie the match at 4-all, Fortini closed the door by holding serve to go up 5-4. Then, after the addition of the point penalty, Fortini broke serve and secured Portland State's spot in the championship.

"Matteo just continues to lead this team. He pulled that point out and the crew ran out and celebrated like mad, and now we're in the finals," Krauel said.

The Phoenix heat has drained all of the teams competing all weekend, and one advantage Northern Arizona may have is only needing to recover from one match. The Lumberjacks had a bye, but Krauel credited the training staff and his team for their work at recovering and said they will be ready to go tomorrow.

"We're just going to recover today. Our trainer Brian Davis has done a great job every day of hydrating these guys and recovering them," Krauel said. "We're going to stay indoors and we play at eight in the morning and it's not that hot then, but every day we just keep recovering, hydrating and stretching."

BIG SKY CHAMPIONSHIP COVERAGE: No. 4 Portland State and No. 1 Northern Arizona will meet for the Big Sky Championship Saturday morning at 8 a.m. Live stats for the match can be found on BigSkyStats.com or follow @PSUViksMTN on Twitter for updates.

MATCH NOTES: The Vikings are now 2-2 all-time in Big Sky Tournament matches … The Vikings are now 7-1 all-time against Southern Utah … This is the first championship appearance in school history … The Vikings have won four consecutive matches … Lucas Castelo Branco is on a five-match winning streak … Matteo Fortini is on a four-match winning streak … Castelo Branco/Fortini are on a three-match winning streak.

PROGRAM RECORD WATCH: Lucas Castelo Branco is now in sole possession of second for all-time wins (12) at No. 2 … Castelo Branco's 12 wins are the most at the line in a single season … Sam Roberts won his 6th match at No. 5 singles, the third best season at the line … Lucas Castelo Branco and Mattteo Fortini are now 11-4 together this season at No. 2 doubles. The 11 wins are the most in a career and single season at the line by a doubles team … Avery West/Tommy Edwards have the third most doubles wins by a team with 12 while Castelo Branco/Fortini and Roberts/Bukhari are tied for fourth with 11.