SEATTLE, Wash. – The Portland men's tennis team pushed No. 57 Cal Poly to the brink, but the Mustangs were able to pull out a 4-3 thriller Saturday afternoon at the Nordstrom Tennis Center. Portland took the doubles point and had wins at No. 5 and No. 6 singles, but Cal Poly won the other four singles matches, two coming in three sets.
"Obviously the result is disappointing," Portland head coach Aaron Gross said, "but I'm really happy with the effort and the improvement from last week. Cal Poly is No. 57 in the country and we had more than our fair share of chances to win the match. It would have been a very nice win, but I do feel that our young team probably has to go through the fire a few times before we can count on getting these type of close wins against quality teams."
The Pilots (1-2) swept the doubles point with comfortable wins at the No. 2 and No. 3 positions. Sophomores Pierre Garcia and Alex Wallace cruised 6-2 at No. 2 and senior Kent Andreasen teamed with freshman Carlos Donat for a 6-1 clinching win at No. 3.
"Our doubles was fantastic today," Gross noted. "I'm not sure we have had that good of total team doubles effort in a couple of years. We got off to good starts and never looked back."
Wallace then gave the Pilots a 2-0 lead with a straight sets win at No. 5 singles to improve to 2-1 this spring.
The Mustangs (1-3) won the next three singles matches to take a 3-2 lead, but Portland equalized as sophomore Jared Madison came through with a three set win at the No. 6 position. The final point came down to No. 2 singles where Ben Donovan outlasted sophomore Mathieu Garcia by a 6-7, 6-3, 6-4 margin.
"Alex Wallace continues to really show how far he has come by getting a decisive win," Gross said. "Jared Madison made his debut this season and got the win to tie it up. Mathieu Garcia and Felix Fan each played a heck of a match, but both came up just short.
"All in all it was a very encouraging effort by us today. The good thing is that I know our guys are disappointed. They aren't satisfied with a 'good effort.' They are hungry and I think next time we will be even more prepared when we get to that position to close out a match."
The Pilots will conclude their trip to Seattle by taking on the No. 43-ranked Washington Huskies Sunday at noon. The match will have live stats and live video courtesy of GoHuskies.com.
#57 Cal Poly 4, Portland 3
Seattle, Wash. (Nordstrom Tennis Center)
January 30, 2016
Singles1. Garrett Auproux (CP) def. Michail Pervolarakis (POR) 6-4, 6-3
2. Ben Donovan (CP) def. Mathieu Garcia (POR) 6-7, 6-3, 6-4
3. Corey Pang (CP) def. Pierre Garcia (POR) 6-4, 6-2
4. Josh Ortlip (CP) def. Felix Fan (POR) 3-6, 6-3, 6-3
5. Alex Wallace (POR) def. Axel Damiens (CP) 6-2, 7-5
6. Jared Madison (POR) def. Aiku Shintani (CP) 6-1, 4-6, 6-4
Doubles1. Pervolarakis/Fan (POR) vs. Pang/Donovan (CP) 4-3 unfinished
2. P. Garcia/ Wallace (POR) def. Auproux/Tim Tan (CP) 6-2
3. Kent Andersen/Carlos Donat (POR) def. Karl Enander/Rafael Lenhard (CP) 6-1
