POCATELLO, Idaho — The Portland State men's tennis team took the doubles point and played two singles matches to three sets but couldn't overcome Idaho State, falling 6-1 to the Bengals at Reed Gym on Thursday.

The Vikings (5-13, 1-4 BSC) opened with back-to-back doubles wins to seize an early advantage against the Bengals (7-8, 1-2), earning the opening point for just the second time in five conference matches.

With a new look to their doubles lineup, the Vikings rallied back after dropping the opening result, 6-2 at No. 2.  The No. 1 pair of Maas Schotanus and Aarjun Pandit responded with a 6-4 win over Valentino De Pellegrin and Luka Vujacic. Luke Lu and Ignacio Ruiz followed at No. 3, securing a 6-4 victory over Hayden Ciguenza and Sam Wensley to clinch a 1-0 lead and send the Vikings into singles play with the momentum. 

Limited to just three courts at a time, singles play opened on lines one through three, with two matches going to a deciding set. Idaho State evened the match with a win at No. 1 to begin singles play.

At No. 2, Schotanus battled back after dropping his opening set 6-3 to Sep De Visser, forcing a third before ultimately falling 6-3, 3-6, 6-3. Meanwhile, Luca Prino came out strong at No. 3, taking the first set 6-1, but Wensley responded with back-to-back wins, 6-3 and 6-2, to take the match.

Holding a 3-1 lead, the Bengals needed just one point from the final three courts to clinch. They secured it with straight-set wins at Nos. 4, 5 and 6 to close out the victory.

Portland State has three matches remaining on its regular-season schedule as it heads into April. The stretch begins with a home finale at Tualatin Hills Tennis Center against Idaho on Sunday, April 5 (10 a.m.). The Vikings will then travel to Sacramento State for their conference finale on Thursday, April 16, followed by a match at UC Davis on Friday, April 17.