TEMPE, Ariz. – University of Portland men's tennis junior Michail Pervolarakis is the No. 66-ranked singles player nationally, as the first Oracle/ITA National Tennis Rankings were released on Wednesday. Pervolarakis had a stellar fall season that included a run to the semifinals of the USTA/ITA Regional Championships in October.

The Limassol, Cyprus native posted an 8-4 fall singles record, including two wins against opponents currently ranked. He opened the fall campaign with a run to the quarterfinals of the Battle of the Bay Classic that included a win over current No. 28-ranked Logan Smith of USC. In his run at ITA Regionals, Pervolarkis knocked off No. 88 Bjorn Hoffmann of California.

"It is really nice that Mike's results this fall were recognized and it is a good reflection on our program," Portland head coach Aaron Gross said. "Public recognition is great, but we always felt that Mike was at that level in college tennis, he just needed more opportunities to prove it to others."

Pervolarakis was an All-West Coast Conference first team singles player as a sophomore last season after leading the Pilots to a third place finish in league. He posted a 13-6 dual singles record at the No. 1 position and also earned All-WCC first team doubles honors with teammate Mathieu Garcia.

"Knowing Mike, I am sure that he will be humble and appreciative of the recognition," Gross said. "I also know that he is not satisfied. He wants tennis to be his career and he knows the importance of continuing the steady progress that has allowed him to get to this point. I have no doubt that Mike is going to come into the spring season really hungry to prove even more."

Gross was a bit surprised to not see junior Mathieu Garcia's name among the ranked players. Garcia had a breakout fall campaign that included a 12-4 record, quarterfinals run at the ITA Regional and finals appearance at the Larry Easley Memorial Classic.

"I feel we have a couple of other guys in the lineup that are eyeing a ranking as well," Gross noted. "I thought Mathieu (Garcia) had enough quality results this fall to be recognized too, but he must just slightly be out of the rankings."

Portland returns all six of its singles players from last year's squad that tied for third in the WCC standings, was ranked No. 74 at year's end, and finished with a 16-8 overall record. Despite returning all key players, the Pilots are not expected to have a senior in the lineup again this season.

The spring dual season begins on Saturday, Jan. 28 as the Pilots host a doubleheader at the Louisiana Pacific Tennis Center. Portland welcomes Seattle University at 10 a.m. and then Sacramento State at 5:30 p.m.