VANCOUVER – Avenging last year's loss in the Big Sky Championship, the Portland State men's tennis team opened conference play with a 4-1 victory over Northern Arizona on Saturday at the Vancouver Tennis Center.
 
The Vikings defeated the Big Sky favorites for the first time since the 2016 season, clinching the dual at 4-1. The Lumberjacks fall to 4-6 on the year, 0-1 in the BSC. 

 "Today came down to hard work and experience," said Head Coach Vetu Mam. "NAU has a strong young team, but my guys have seen it all and have been in these situations. There were some issues with cramping, but very pleased with how well the guys unified and pushed each other until the end."

The Vikings earned the doubles point in dramatic fashion to take an early lead in the dual. Majeed Bukhari and Matteo Fortini won their match 6-4 while the other two matches went to tiebreakers. On court three, Nikola Dimitrijevic and Sahal Bukary battled back down 6-5 to force the tiebreaker, winning 8-6 to secure the early point.
 
In singles, Sam Roberts bounced back from a 6-1 loss in set one, winning nine games in a row to take set two 6-4 and set three 6-0, giving Portland State a 2-0 advantage.
 
Northern Arizona scored its first point on court two as Tommy Edwards and Facundo Tumosa battled in a 5-7, 7-5, 6-3 result in favor of Tumosa.
 
Fortini endured one of the toughest matches of the day at No. 1, competing against Eban Straker-Meads with each set going into extra points. Fortini fought back after dropping the first set 7-6 with a 7-5 tiebreak. As the match went back and forth, Fortini strung together some big runs to win 7-5, 7-5 in the next two sets.
 
In another close battle, Dimitrijevic clinched the win for the Vikings in the longest match of the day, jumping out to a 7-6 (7-4) win in the opening set before NAU's Alex Groves tied the match with a 6-4 win in set two. With needing only one more point to win the dual, Dimitrijevic finished off the match with a 6-1 victory to secure the first win over the Lumberjacks since 2016.
 
"Even though we came out with a win, I believe I haven't seen these guys at their full potential," added Mam. "We had a tough week of practice leading up to NAU, we'll do the same this week leading up to Southern Utah."

Northern Arizona finished with two more points at position five and six, winning 6-4, 7-5 and 3-6, 6-3, 1-0 (10-8).
 
The Vikings continue conference play at home next weekend as they welcome in Southern Utah on Friday, Feb. 28 at 10:30 p.m.
 
RESULTS:
SINGLES:
FORTINI, Matteo (PSU) def. STRAKER-MEADS, Eban (NAU) 6-7 (7-5), 7-5, 7-5
TUMOSA, Facundo (NAU) def. EDWARDS, Tommy (PSU) 5-7, 7-5, 6-4
DIMITRIJEVIC, Nikola (PSU) def. GROVES, Alex (NAU) 7-6 (7-3), 4-6, 6-1
ROBERTS, Sam (PSU) def. DILLON, Daniel (NAU) 1-6, 6-4, 6-0
NGUYEN, David (NAU) def. BUKHARI, Majeed (PSU) 6-4, 7-5
SCHAEFER, Joachim (NAU) def. BUKARY, Sahal (PSU) 3-6, 6-3, 1-0 (10-8)
 
DOUBLES:
STRAKER-MEADS, Eban/TUMOSA, Facundo (NAU) def. ROBERTS, Sam/EDWARDS, Tommy (PSU) 7-6 (8-6)
BUKHARI, Majeed/FORTINI, Matteo (PSU) def. GROVES, Alex/SCHAEFER, Joachim (NAU) 6-4
DIMITRIJEVIC, Nikola/BUKARY, Sahal (PSU) def. STEELE, Chris/DILLON, Daniel (NAU) 7-6 (8-6)