PORTLAND, Ore. – The Portland men's tennis team remained undefeated at home with a 6-0 win over San Francisco in West Coast Conference action Friday at the Louisiana-Pacific Tennis Center. The Pilots (11-6, 2-2 WCC) are now 7-0 at home this year. The Dons fall to 4-13 overall and 1-2 in league play.
"I think we did a great job of staying present and really focusing on the task at hand, which was to try to beat a good USF team that had beaten us 4-0 last season," Portland head coach Aaron Gross said. "We are looking at six straight WCC matches heading into the home stretch of the season and it is challenging to try to take just one of them at a time, knowing that they are all going to be very close battles. I think we did a great job of that today."
Portland opened the scoring by securing the doubles point with wins at the No. 1 and No. 2 positions. Senior Kent Andreasen and sophomore Alex Wallace cruised to a 6-1 win at No. 2 and then sophomores Michail Pervolarakis and Mathieu Garcia clinched with a 7-5 victory at No. 1.
"Once again, doubles was very solid for us," Gross noted. "Mike and Mathieu beat the team that won the ITA Regionals this fall. They are really starting to gel. Kent continues to be super solid for us, along with Alex banging in his serve. And Pierre and Felix showed some very nice promise today, as well."
The Pilots then controlled singles play throughout. Mathieu Garcia defeated Ryan Marker 6-3, 6-4 at the No. 2 spot to give Portland a 2-0 lead. Pervolarakis then outlasted Nils Skajaa 7-5, 7-5 at No. 1 to run his win streak to seven matches.
Pierre Garcia clinched the match for the Pilots with a come-from-behind three set win over Vasco Valverde 4-6, 6-4, 7-5.
The bottom of Portland's lineup cruised with Wallace defeating Thomas Takemoto 6-4, 6-2. Freshman Felix Fan won 6-0, 6-1 at No. 5 singles and freshman Carlos Donat closed the scoring with a 6-4, 6-2 win at No. 6.
"Mike had a very good win against their top senior player," Gross said. "I don't think we have beaten him in all of the time he has been there, so that was a very nice win. The Garcia brothers bounced back from losses in the Marquette match as I would have expected. These are two of the toughest kids around. Pierre especially today just gritted his way to the deciding victory for us.
"Freshman Felix Fan continued his great season with a comfortable win and Alex Wallace had another inspired effort for victory. Needless to say, we feel pretty good when Alex, Felix, and Carlos head out for the second round of singles. They have done an amazing job for us."
Portland will return to the court on Sunday to host the Santa Clara Broncos at 10 a.m. The match will have live video and live stats courtesy of PortlandPilots.com.
Portland 7, San Francisco 0
Portland, Ore. (Louisiana-Pacific Tennis Center)
April 1, 2016
Singles1. Michail Pervolarakis (POR) def. Nils Skajaa (USF) 7-5, 7-5
2. Mathieu Garcia (POR) def. Ryan Marker (USF) 6-3, 6-4
3. Pierre Garcia (POR) def. Vasco Valverde (USF) 4-6, 6-4, 7-5
4. Alex Wallace (POR) def. Thomas Takemoto (USF) 6-4, 6-2
5. Felix Fan (POR) def. Woravin Kumthonkittilkul (USF) 6-0, 6-1
6. Carlos Donat (POR) vs. Christian Brockstedt (USF) 6-3 unfinished
Doubles1. Pervolarakis/M. Garcia (POR) def. Skajaa/Valverde (USF) 7-5
2. Kent Andreasen/Wallace (POR) def. Jason Lee/Marker (USF) 6-1
3. P. Garcia/Fan (POR) vs. Takemoto/Brockstedt (USF) 5-4 unfinished
Order of Finish: Singles (3,1,2,4,5,6) Doubles (2,1)
