The Portland State men’s tennis team took the court against George Fox University last Saturday. The competition began with electric doubles play by the Vikings, who prevailed over a determined George Fox team in all three doubles matches. Justin McClain of the Bruins was paired up with Peter Brown to take on the Viking duo of Connor Gilmore and Ian Risenhoover. The Bruins were eager for the challenge.
“In doubles, we got good experience,” McClain said. “We won’t see many players in our conference [who] hit that big.”
At No. 1 singles, Portland State’s Antoine Bechmann defeated McClain 6-2, 6-1. The Vikings enlisted Stratton Gilmore at the No. 2 singles spot, who defeated the Bruins’ fiery Shawn Aldrich by a score of 6-0, 6-2.
In the No. 3 matchup, George Fox’s Chris Lilley went up against Abhinav Mishra. After Mishra took the first set 6-2, Lilley came back in the second, winning it 6-4. Lilley then prevailed 10-7 in the match tiebreaker to record the Bruins’ only point.
“I think if we learned anything, it’s that we can hang with those guys,” McClain said. “We aren’t quite there yet, but we are close.”
Now that Portland State has completed their matchups against Division III opponents this year, Vikings head coach Jay Sterling will look to build on the momentum after the win over the Bruins.
“With a lot of guys on our team playing in their first full season, it was a good opportunity for them to get some additional match play and experience,” Sterling said. “George Fox always has a quality team that makes us work for every point. That’s really what we need at this point in the season, as we continue to work on things and improve.”
The Vikings will take on Division I Big Sky Conference adversaries this coming Saturday in a match against the Idaho State University Bengals in Pocatello, Idaho. Portland State will face a tough challenge as they march ahead into a difficult portion of the season. Whatever the team accomplishes this year, they will have to do it together.
“That’s what makes college tennis so much fun—it’s a true team sport,” Sterling said. “Winning requires the commitment, effort and performance of the entire team, each and every match.”