Four teams, three days, two cities

The Portland State men’s tennis team begins a four-game weekend that kicks off with a match in Portland today and features a two-city doubleheader on Saturday.

“It will be a busy three days, but they will be great matches for the guys,” said second-year head coach Brian Parrott about playing four different teams in a span of three days.

The stretch starts off with the Vikings hosting UC Davis at the Portland Tennis Center today. The Viks then play Montana State in Portland on Saturday morning before heading to Eugene to square off against Idaho that night. A match against Oregon, a Pac-10 team, on Sunday caps the weekend.

The Vikings hold a 1–1 record this season after a 7–0 win over Willamette last weekend that followed a loss to University of Portland in the season opener.

“The standout matches for the men last weekend were Chris Rice’s battle with Portland’s No. 1 player who apparently served over 20 aces and played extremely well. Also, Alex VanDerschelden’s three-set match with Brian Thorpe—another very fine player—is a great effort,” Parrott said.

VanDerschelden came close to a win, but lost 6–4, 4–6, 6–4 to Portland’s Matthew Houser. Rice, too, went down hard to Portland’s Filip Zivkovic 6–2, 6–7 (5), 6–4. Against Willamette, Rice started the whitewash with a 7–5, 6–4 win over Matthew Houser and junior Jeff Caro completed the drubbing with a 6–2, 6–4 win over Jackson Martin.

Like the Viks, UC Davis is also .500 this season (2–2). The Aggies started their 2010 campaign with a shocking win over the ranked team from Pacific but then lost to regional rivals—and Big Sky favorites —Sacramento State.

Daryl Lee and Tori Sherbakov, both with 2–0 or better records this season, will be spearheading the Aggies attack. Their matchup against the Viks was a last-minute addition to the men’s schedule.
Montana State, meanwhile, is still searching for its first victory of the season. The Bobcats are 0–2 in 2010, having lost 0–7 to both Northern Arizona and Arizona.

“The conference game against Big Sky opponents Montana State will be the most important match of the weekend,” Parrott said.

Idaho though, seems to have resurrected their season with three back-to-back victories. The Vandals lost their openers to Nevada and Fresno State, but won the last three matches—including a 6–1 triumph over Gonzaga. In their last head-to-head with Idaho in 2009, the Vikings were pillaged 0–7.

Pac-10 opponents Oregon are 2–1 this season, with their only loss coming against No. 22 Boise State. Despite the winning record, the Ducks had to fight for their wins over Weber State and University of Portland. The Ducks narrowly won both the games with a 4–3 margin.

PSU vs. UC Davis         Portland Tennis Center    2 p.m., Fri
PSU vs. Montana St.     Portland Tennis Center    9 a.m., Sat
PSU vs. Idaho                at University of Oregon    5 p.m., Sat
PSU at Oregon              at University of Oregon    10 a.m., Sun