Tournament Central

GOLD RIVER, Calif. – The Portland men's tennis team defeated co-host Sacramento State 6-1 in its opening match of the Golden State Invitational late Friday night at the Spare Time Indoor Tennis Center. All of the matches have been moved indoors due to inclement weather and the match didn't start until 8:30 p.m.

The Pilots (8-4) got off to a sluggish start by losing the doubles points to fall behind 1-0 to the Hornets (3-11), but the team quickly found its groove in singles play and swept the remaining six points.

"It was kind of the tale of two matches tonight," Portland head coach Aaron Gross said. "We played very flat and lacked aggression or energy in the doubles and paid the price. It's not fun to go in a hole right off the bat, but I think it really sparked our guys because we got after it in singles. It's kind of tricky playing a night match. There was a lot of sitting around today and we weren't really sure what to expect from Sacramento State. I think losing the doubles point woke us up and got us moving in the right direction for the weekend."

Sophomores Alex Wallace, Pierre Garcia and Mathieu Garcia each posted convincing wins to put the Pilots ahead 3-1. Sophomore Michail Pervolarakis then outlasted Mikus Losbergs in three sets to clinch the win. Freshmen Felix Fan and Carlos Donat closed out the scoring with straight set wins at the No. 5 and No. 6 positions. 

"Alex, Pierre and Mathieu took care of business very quickly after the doubles matches and then Mike Pervolarakis saved five match points in the second set and out gritted his opponent in the third. Felix and Carlos did a great job closing out the match at the bottom part of the line-up. 

"In the end, it turned out to be a good experience having to fight our way back after losing a doubles point. It isn't fun going through it, but after we came out on the other side with a win I can see the value of successfully dealing with that adversity for future matches."

The Golden State Invitational continues on Saturday and will conclude on Sunday. The Pilots will play the winner of Saint Mary's and UT Arlington on Saturday at 7 p.m.

Portland 6, Sacramento State 1
Gold River, Calif. (Spare Time Indoor Tennis Center)
March 11, 2016

Singles
1. PERVOLARAKIS, Mike (POR) def. LOSBERGS, Mikus (SAC) 3-6, 7-6 (10-8), 6-2
2. GARCIA, Mathieu (POR) def. ZEMAITELIS, Kasparas (SAC) 6-2, 6-3
3. GARCIA, Pierre (POR) def. MARQUEZ, Joaquin (SAC) 6-1, 6-1
4. WALLACE, Alex (POR) def. MILLER, Dom (SAC) 6-2, 6-1
5. FAN, Felix (POR) def. CLAYTON, Christopher (SAC) 6-0, 6-3
6. DONAT, Carlos (POR) def. HALL, Donald (SAC) 6-1, 6-2

Doubles
1. LOSBERGS, Mikus/ZEMAITELIS, Kasparas (SAC) def. PERVOLARAKIS, Mike/GARCIA, Mathieu (POR) 6-2
2. MILLER, Dom/HALL, Donald (SAC) vs. GARCIA, Pierre/WALLACE, Alex (POR) 5-5, unfinished
3. VOLLATH, Uli/CLAYTON, Christopher (SAC) def. ANDREASEN, Kent/DONAT, Carlos (POR) 6-3

Match Notes:
Portland 8-4
Sacramento State 3-10

Order of finish: Doubles (1,3); Singles (3,4,2,1,6,5)