LAS VEGAS, Nev. – Portland had three singles players reach their flight semifinals and both doubles tandems in the quarterfinals after Friday's action at the Larry Easley Memorial Classic hosted by UNLV. Junior Mathieu Garcia advanced in the top flight, while junior Pierre Garcia and sophomore Carlos Donat each made Flight 2 semifinals. Portland also is in both halves of the doubles draw.
Mathieu Garcia was impressive with a pair of come-from-behind victories. He opened the tournament by knocking off Riley Smith of USC and then came back to defeat Alex Cozbinov of host UNLV.
"We had a very successful day in Las Vegas today, led by Mathieu Garcia getting two gutsy, come-from-behind three set wins against very good opponents to advance to the semifinals of Flight 1 singles," Portland head coach Aaron Gross said. "Carlos Donat and Pierre Garcia played well together in doubles today and got a win and both advanced to the semifinals in singles of Flight 2 with hard fought wins."
Pierre Garcia received an opening round bye and then beat Oregon's Ty Gentry in straight sets to punch his semifinals ticket. Donat posted a three-set victory over Justin Cvitanovic from Grand Canyon and then defeated Oregon's Ethan Young-Smith in the quarterfinals.
Junior Michail Pervolarakis dropped his opening Flight 1 singles match to UCLA's Joe DiGuillo, but bounced back for a consolation win against Lorenzo Fucile of Grand Canyon.
In doubles, Pervolarakis and Mathieu Garcia advanced via walkover, while Donat and Pierre Garcia beat a team from Grand Canyon, 8-5.
"It was a really long day of tennis and even the best players could possibly buckle in the heat and the long hours on the court, but our guys took all adversity thrown at them and kept moving forward," Gross said. "There was moments of very good tennis and moments of erratic tennis, but bottom line we just competed really well today. At this point, recovery physically and mentally is the key to playing well tomorrow. I think the Pilots as a whole probably spent the most hours on the court today of any team here. I have confidence in our fitness level and we will actively work to recover and come ready to go at it again tomorrow. I'm very proud of how we competed today."
Action continues Saturday with doubles starting at 9 a.m. following by singles. See below for complete Portland scores and matchups.
Larry Easley Memorial Classic
Las Vegas, Nev. (Fertitta Tennis Complex)
Nov. 4-6, 2016
Flight 1 Singles Draw
16 Joe DiGuillo (UCLA) def. Michail Pervolarakis (POR) 6-1, 7-6 (4)
16 Mathieu Garcia (POR) def. Riley Smith (USC) 4-6, 7-5, 6-2
QF Mathieu Garcia (POR) def. Alex Cozbinov (UNLV) 5-7, 6-1, 6-4
SF Mathieu Garcia (POR) vs. Simon Stevens (UO) Saturday, 10 AM
Flight 1 Consolation
C Michail Pervolarakis (POR) def. Lorenzo Fucile (GCU) 6-7, 6-0, 1-0 (6)
C Michail Pervolarakis (POR) vs. Akihiro Tanaka (UO) Saturday, 10 AM
Flight 2 Singles Draw
16 Carlos Donat (POR) def. Justin Cvitanovic (GCU) 6-2, 6-7 (4), 6-3
QF Pierre Garcia (POR) def. Ty Gentry (UO) 7-5, 7-6 (7)
QF Carlos Donat (POR) def. Ethan Young-Smith (UO) 6-4, 7-5
SF Pierre Garcia (POR) vs. Michael Guzman (UCLA) Saturday, 10 AM
SF Carlos Donat (POR) vs. Richard Soldberg (UNLV) Saturday, 10 AM
Doubles Draw
16 Pervolarakis/M. Garcia (POR) def. Guzman/Yamani (UCLA) W/O
16 P. Garcia/Donat (POR) def. Fucile/Rajoanah (GCU) 8-5
QF Pervolarakis/M. Garcia (POR) vs. Stevens/Tanaka (UO) Saturday, 9 AM
QF P. Garcia/Donat (POR) vs. Taylor/Nguyen (NAU) Saturday, 9 AM
