BEAVERTON, Ore. – The Portland State men's tennis team went toe-to-toe with Montana on Sunday, pushing three singles matches to a third set, but came up short in a 5-2 loss at the Tualatin Hills Tennis Center.

The Vikings dropped to 5-10 overall and 1-2 in Big Sky play, while the Grizzlies improved to 7-6 and 1-0 in conference action.

Montana claimed the doubles point with wins at No. 1 and No. 2. Duncan McCall and Baltaz Wiger-Nordas defeated Edoardo Cravanzola and Maas Schotanus, 6-4, at the top spot, putting the pressure on the Vikings to win the remaining two matches. On court three, Luca Prino and Luke Lu were in the midst of a comeback before the Griz sealed the point at No. 2, where Tom Bittner and Eivind Tandberg closed out a 6-4 win over Aarjun Pandit and Ignacio Ruiz. Prino and Lu were tied 4-4 when their match went unfinished.

The Grizzlies extended their lead to 3-0 with straight-set wins at No. 2 and No. 6 in singles. Portland State responded behind its freshmen, as Pandit earned a 6-2, 6-3 win over Bittner at No. 1 and Ruiz grinded out a 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 victory against Joseph Townes at No. 5.

Needing wins in the final two matches to stay alive, the Vikings saw both contests move to a third set. Prino at No. 3 and Cravanzola at No. 4 were unable to hold off their Montana opponents, as the Griz secured the 5-2 decision.

The Vikings return to action next Sunday, March 22, when they travel to Ogden to face Weber State.