PORTLAND, Ore. – Portland senior Lucia Butkovska defeated the No. 2 ranked singles player in the nation, but the Pepperdine Waves held on for a hard-fought 4-2 win over the Pilots Friday afternoon at the Louisiana-Pacific Tennis Center.

Butkovska improved to 9-2 in dual play this season and 2-0 against ranked opponents when she dealt Luisa Stefani a 6-2, 6-3 loss. It was just the second dual loss this spring for Stefani and the most impressive singles win in Portland school history.

Portland freshman Tatiana Grigoryan also had an impressive victory, defeating Matea Cutura 7-6, 6-1 on the same center court that Butkovska pulled off the upset.

The match was hotly contested from start-to-finish, with the Waves edging the Pilots for the doubles point. Pepperdine won comfortably at No. 2 doubles, but Portland senior duo Maja Mladenovic and Emily Gould had match point at No. 3 doubles when the Waves won 6-4 at No. 1 to take the 1-0 lead.

Butkovska wasted little time in evening the score and then the next few singles matches were marathons.

Pepperdine's Dzina Milovanovic held off Mladenovic 7-6 (8), 7-5 after overcoming a 4-1 deficit in the first set. Grigoryan then evened the score at 2-2 with her win at No. 4 singles.

No. 2 singles was a battle as Pilot freshman Radina Dimitrova won the first set 6-4, but Laura Gulbe overcame a pair of match points to win the second set in a tiebreaker. She would hold on 6-3 in the third for a 3-2 Pepperdine lead.

Apichaya Runglerdkriangkrai clinched the match for the Waves at No. 5 singles in another close battle against Pilot senior Tori Troesch. Troesch went up early, but Runglerdkriangkrai forced a tiebreaker and took the first set before winning 6-3 in the third.

The final match was left unfinished as Portland's Saroop Dhatt and Michaela Capannolo were also in a first set tiebreak when the team result was decided.

The grueling match was the first of three in three days for the Pilots. Portland will host Loyola Marymount on Saturday at 11 a.m. and then Colorado on Sunday at 10 a.m. to conclude the 2016 home schedule. Both matches will have live video and stats at PortlandPilots.com.

#9 Pepperdine 4, Portland 2
Portland, Ore. (Louisiana-Pacific Tennis Center)
April 8, 2016

Singles
1. BUTKOVSKA, Lucia (POR) def. #2 STEFANI, Luisa (PEP) 6-2, 6-3
2. GULBE, Laura (PEP) def. DIMITROVA, Radina (POR) 4-6, 7-6 (7-3), 6-3
3. MILOVANOVIC, Dzina (PEP) def. MLADENOVIC, Maja (POR) 7-6 (10-8), 7-5
4. GRIGORYAN, Tatiana (POR) def. CUTURA, Matea (PEP) 7-6 (7-5), 6-1
5. RUNGLERDKRIANGKRAI,A (PEP) def. TROESCH, Tori (POR) 7-6 (7-4), 6-3
6. CAPANNOLO, Michaela (PEP) vs. DHATT, Saroop (POR) 6-6 (3-5) unfinished

Doubles
1. #17 STEFANI/RUNGLERDKRIANGKRAI (PEP) def. BUTKOVSKA/TROESCH (POR) 6-4
2. #14 CUTURA/MADDOX, Christine (PEP) def. DIMITROVA /GRIGORYAN (POR) 6-2
3. MLADENOVIC/GOULD, Emily (POR) vs. CAPANNOLO/MILOVANOVIC (PEP) 5-3 unfinished

Match Notes:
Pepperdine 13-3, 4-0 WCC; National ranking #9
Portland 4-11, 1-4 WCC
Order of finish: Doubles (2,1); Singles (1,3,4,2,5)