POCATELLO, Idaho – The Portland State men's tennis team dropped their opening match of the weekend, 7-0, to Big Sky foe Idaho State at Reed Gym. 

The Vikings dropped to 4-8 and 1-4 in conference action while the Bengals improved to 10-7 and 2-1 in Big Sky action. 

The Vikings nearly clinched the opening point, securing a doubles win while dropping another in a tiebreak. Jan Semerak and Hembo Mathiasen notched their first victory as a duo, beating Wikus Robbertse and Andreas Kramer 7-6 (5) at line two. With an identical score on court one, Cade Edwards and Simon Kuszynski were edged by Valentino De Pellegrin and Victor Sklenka in a tiebreak, 7-6 (5) as the Bengals took the doubles point. 

The Vikings pushed three singles matches to third sets, but couldn't come away with a victory. Battling De Pellegrin at line one, Luka Jovanovic took the opening set 6-7 (6) before dropping the next two 6-3, 6-4. Semerak also won his first set, beating Skelnka 4-6 before ultimately falling 4-6, 6-2, 6-3. Hayden Elliott was the third Viking to push a deciding set before falling 10-5 in a super tiebreak. 

The Vikings will return to action tomorrow (Saturday, March 23) against Weber State. First serve is set for 10:00 a.m. PT/11:00 a.m. MT at the Ogden Athletic Club.