The final stretch of the season approaches for Portland State men's tennis, and it brings with it a chance at history. The Vikings have already reached 10 wins for the second consecutive season - a first in program history - and now sights are set on back-to-back Big Sky Tournament appearances for the first time ever.

It will all have to happen away from home, as the Vikings will play four matches on the road in the next two weeks. It starts on Friday in a non-conference match against Air Force before they challenge Big Sky opponent Northern Colorado in Greeley on Sunday morning.

Portland State is already in the midst of its third-best season in program history, trailing only a 12-win campaign in 2016 and 13 wins in 2018. The chase for a postseason spot is on, but the Vikings could also make a little history on the way.

Some records have already fallen. Last week, in a 7-0 win against Pacific, Tommy Edwards and Avery West became the winningest doubles team in program history. They are 23-11 while playing together, the best winning percentage ever at No. 1.

Edwards could make more history on his own this week, as he trails Kyle Erickson for the most wins at No. 3 singles by just one win. Sam Roberts could also become the most successful No. 4 player in program history with a pair of wins as he currently trails Jeff Cero by one.

While the records may be there for the taking, it won't be an easy weekend for the Vikings. Air Force has been a quality team all season and have won three matches out of three against Big Sky Conference opponents so far. The final non-conference test should set up the Vikings for the three conference games that await them to end the season.

The Big Sky has been incredibly unpredictable this season, with the exception of league leaders Northern Arizona. The Lumberjacks are 9-0 and have already clinched the No. 1 seed in the conference tournament in Phoenix.

The rest of the conference is chasing, and Portland State sits right in the middle of that chase. The Vikings, at 4-3, are currently tied for fourth place with Montana and Sacramento State. Idaho State, who the Vikings still have on their schedule, are currently half a game ahead of the trio of teams.

The top six teams will make it to Phoenix and a gap has started to form between sixth and seventh. But one of the teams chasing a postseason spot - Idaho - should give everyone ahead of them worries. Since joining the Big Sky in 2015, the Vandals have never missed the postseason. They are tied with Montana State, which is good news for the Vikings, who defeated both in head-to-head matches and hold tiebreakers.

Portland State can't decide its ultimate fate this weekend, but with a fifth win they would be one step closer to guaranteeing a spot in Phoenix on April 25.

SCOUTING AIR FORCE (9-10/0-4 MWC)

-The Falcons enter on a five-match losing streak, three of which were 3-4 results. They are 3-0 against Big Sky opponents, defeating Montana, Southern Utah and Northern Colorado. They play Weber State on Monday and San Diego State early in the day Friday.
-Air Force has been very tough to beat at home, winning six of seven contests at the Academy.
-10 different players have appeared for the Falcons this season. Paul Hendrix has been the most successful singles player with a 15-7 record. Jamie Bautista has been great in doubles with a 12-4 record.

ALL-TIME SERIES VS. AIR FORCE

The Vikings are 1-4 all-time vs. Air Force and are 0-3 all-time in road matches. Portland State's only win came in 2009, a 4-3 result at home. The last meeting came on Feb. 22, 2014, a 7-0 win by Air Force.

SCOUTING NORTHERN COLORADO (8-10/2-6 BSC)

-The Bears are coming off a 3-4 loss to Metro State last week. They will have a match on Thursday against Colorado-Mesa before meeting the Vikings.
-Northern Colorado is just 2-6 in conference matches, but both wins came at home. They defeated Montana State and Southern Utah in 4-3 results.
-Adolfo Arroyo has the best conference record for UNC, going 3-4 in Big Sky play. There is a trio of players with 2-5 records, including No. 1 player Kyle Pease.
-They have been better in doubles than singles, as the three most used doubles teams all have at least .500 records in Big Sky matches.

ALL-TIME SERIES VS. NORTHERN COLORADO

The Vikings are 7-4 all-time vs. Northern Colorado and are currently on a three-match winning streak in the series. Portland State is 3-3 in road matches against Northern Colorado. The last meeting came on Feb. 24, 2018 when Portland State won 5-2 at home.

SUPER SEASON

There are still four matches left in the 2019 season, and potentially matches to be played at the Big Sky Tournament, but there are several players closing in on single-season Portland State records.

Currently, the Vikings have five of the seven best single season win percentages. Tommy Edwards is having the second-best season ever at .733 and Nikola Dimitrijevic is right behind him with a .727 winning percentage. Otto Holtari sits in fifth at .700 while Lucas Castelo Branco and Matteo Fortini are tied in sixth at .667.

Going down the line, Fortini is enjoying the seventh-best season at No. 1 singles with seven wins. Castelo Branco is currently tied for second at No. 2 singles with eight wins. At No. 3, Edwards is enjoying the second-best season with eight wins. Sam Roberts is also tied for third-best at No. 5 with five wins.  Holtari is having the second-best season at No. 6 with six wins.

They are also closing in on records as doubles teams. Edwards/West is having the sixth-best season with eight wins at No. 1. Castelo Branco/Fortini are having the second best with eight wins and are just one win away from having the most successful season ever as a No. 2 doubles team. At No. 3, Bukhari and Roberts are also having the second best season with nine wins.

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.

Castelo Branco is 10-5 on the season in singles and 9-5 in doubles, playing mostly at No. 2 in both. He is currently fifth in school history with eight career wins at No. 2 singles and seventh with nine wins at No. 2 doubles. He has the third-best winning percentage (.643) at No. 2 doubles.

He and Fortini combined are t-2 in school history with eight wins as a No. 2 doubles team and also have the second best winning percentage (.727).

WESTWARDS!

The talented doubles team of Avery West and Tommy Edwards, nicknamed Westwards when playing together, officially became the winningest team in Portland State history with a 6-0 win against Pacific (4/5/19) and have 23 career wins together.

In 2018, 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).

Edwards (33), is in third place in doubles wins by an individual, and West (24) could crack into the top 10 as well. West is 11th all time with a 24-13 record.

The pair is also third in program history with 11 Big Sky doubles wins.

RECORD CHASERS

Tommy Edwards has moved into second all-time with 29 career singles wins. He is also fourth in school history in overall win percentage (.518), t-3 in Big Sky singles wins (14) and second in overall wins at No. 3 (15).

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 t-4 with seven wins at No. 1 singles, Castelo Branco is fifth with eight wins at No. 2 and Dimitrijevic is t-6 with five 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. 2 this season. He has eight wins on that line.

Otto Holtari has held down the No. 6 line well this season. He is third in school history with eight 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 (.591, 2nd), Avery West (.533, 3rd), Tommy Edwards (.518, 4th) and Sam Roberts (.486, 6th) have been some of the most efficient players in Viking history.

DREAM TEAMS

This season has seen Portland State play some of the best doubles in school history, and the record books reflect that. Edwards/West became the winningest team in program history with their 23rd win together on Apr. 5 against Pacific.

Edwards/West is already the most successful No. 1 doubles team of all time with 23 wins at the line, 10 more than any other Viking pairing. They also have the best winning percentage (.676) at No. 1.

It might be their first season together, but Castelo Branco/Fortini are already making a run at being the most successful No. 2 team of all-time. They have eight wins together, tying them for second as a team. They trail the most successful No. 2 team ever, Goldner/Risenhoover, by just one win.

Bukhari/Roberts picked up six wins together last season and have nine more already in 2019. They are second place in school history for wins as a team at No. 3 and are just one win away from the program record.

All told, the Vikings could have the most successful team in school history at its respective line all playing at the same time by the end of the season.

TOMMY, BOY WONDER

Tommy Edwards has the most singles wins of any active Viking and is currently second on the all-time list with 29 wins. He has picked up 11 of his wins at the No. 2 line while 15 have come while playing No. 3. He is third in career wins at No. 2 and second at No. 3.

The junior from Hillsboro is also t-3 all-time in Big Sky singles wins with 14. He could rise as high as solo second place this season. Edwards also has the second best career winning percentage at No. 3 singles (.625) and the fourth best percentage at No. 2 (.393).

THE FINNISH-ER

Otto Holtari, a sophomore from Espoo, Finland, has made himself into one of the best players in school history by taking advantage of opportunities at No. 6 singles this season. Holtari has the second best overall singles winning percentage (.591) in school history.

Holtari is t-2 in school history with eight career wins at No. 5 singles and has made a charge into the top 10 at No. 6 this year. He has six wins in 2019 and seven in his career, putting him third all-time. He also has the best win percentage at No. 5 singles (.615)

He is also t-9 in school history with eight career Big Sky singles wins.

FORZA FORTINI

Italian sophomore Matteo Fortini didn't wait 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 10-5 record overall, 7-5 at No. 1 singles. He also played three matches, all of which he won, at No. 2. In doubles, he and Lucas Castelo Branco have an 8-3 record while playing on court two and he also is 1-1 at No. 1.

Fortini is currently t-4 in school history with seven wins at No. 1 singles. He is also t-10 with three career wins at No. 2 singles. Fortini is also in the top 10 for career wins at No. 2 doubles with eight and has the second best winning percentage (.727).

As a doubles team, Fortini/Castelo Branco are also t-2 with career wins as a team at No. 2 doubles and have the second best winning percentage.

DON'T MESS WITH DIMITRIJEVIC

Nikola Dimitrijevic has had a perfect start to his conference season and has improved all year long. The transfer from the University of Indianapolis has had an impressive season so far for the Vikings while playing anywhere in the lineup.

He is currently 8-3 with a 5-1 record in Big Sky play. Last week against Montana and Eastern Washington, he picked up a pair of wins while playing one match at both No. 3 and 4.

The singles specialist for the Vikings has made an instant impact in every Big Sky match. He is currently on a five-match winning streak and has won seven of his previous eight matches overall.

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 50-65 all-time, Krauel is the only men's tennis coach in Portland State history with 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 is the third Viking tennis coach to reach the 50-win mark, joining current women's coach Jay Sterling (54) and former women's coach Shaun Ball (76).

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.