PORTLAND, Ore. – The Portland men's tennis team continued its dominant spring with a 4-1 victory against No. 49 San Diego on Saturday afternoon at the Louisiana Pacific Tennis Center. It marked the 10th consecutive victory for the Pilots overall and 18th straight home win. Portland is now 14-1 on the season and 4-0 in West Coast Conference play.
The Toreros (10-8, 3-1 WCC) were dealt their first league loss of the season despite taking the early lead by nabbing the doubles point against the Pilots. Portland bounced back to win the first four singles points to clinch the match and beat San Diego for the first time in program history.
"The really cool thing about today is that we have never beaten San Diego and they took it to us a couple of times last year, yet we expected to win when we went out there," Portland head coach Aaron Gross said. "Our team is very confident and very poised. We needed it today after losing the doubles in a very tentative fashion."
The Pilots won No. 3 doubles behind Jamie Fisher and Carlos Donat, but San Diego won at No. 2 and then squeezed out a tiebreaker at the No. 1 position to take the 1-0 lead.
Portland responded by winning the top three singles matches in straight sets. Junior Pierre Garcia evened the score with a 6-2, 6-2 win over Joshua Page at the No. 3 position. Junior Mathieu Garcia then posted a 6-1, 7-5 victory against Gui Osoria at No. 2 singles for a 2-1 team lead.
Junior Michail Pervolarakis entered the match ranked No. 114 nationally and defeated No. 70-ranked Filip Vittek 6-3, 7-6 at the top spot. It was the 10th straight win for Pervolarakis who improved to 14-1 in spring dual matches.
Portland clinched the match with sophomore Felix Fan made quick work of Alexandrous Araouzos at No. 6 by a 6-3, 6-1 margin.
Junior Alex Wallace was ahead of Guus Koevermans 5-1 in the third set at No. 4, while sophomore Carlos Donat was trailing 4-1 in his third set against Joel Gamerov when the match was decided.
"Our top three guys were beasts and came out and got us three points right away," Gross noted. "I am so proud of Alex Wallace. He was two points from winning the match when Felix clinched it, but he has fought back from adversity so many times in his life and has been battling some injuries. It is so nice to see him back and motivated and healthy and coming up big for us as usual. Felix probably has more clinching matches than anybody in the country. He is so composed under pressure in the end and it has allowed him to be successful under very stressful circumstances.
"It was a great weekend all around," Gross said. "Yet we are only halfway through the conference schedule. Lots of tennis still to play, but right now we will enjoy how we are playing and competing and hopefully continue to keep getting better every day."
The league slate continues with a three straight road matches beginning at Gonzaga next Saturday at 3 p.m. Portland will then travel to Pacific and Saint Mary's on April 14-15.
Portland 4, #49 San Diego 1
Portland, Ore. (Louisiana Pacific Tennis Center)
April 1, 2017
Singles
1. #114 PERVOLARAKIS, Michail (POR) def. #70 VITTEK, Filip (USD) 6-3, 7-6 (9-7)
2. GARCIA, Mathieu (POR) def. OSORIO, Gui (USD) 6-1, 7-5
3. GARCIA, Pierre (POR) def. PAGE, Joshua (USD) 6-2, 6-2
4. WALLACE, Alex (POR) vs. KOEVERMANS, Guus (USD) 6-4, 3-6, 5-1, unfinished
5. DONAT, Carlos (POR) vs. GAMEROV, Joel (USD) 6-0, 1-6, 1-4, unfinished
6. FAN, Felix (POR) def. ARAOUZOS, Alexandros (USD) 6-3, 6-1
Doubles
1. PAGE, Joshua/VITTEK, Filip (USD) def. GARCIA, Mathieu/PERVOLARAKIS, Michail (POR) 7-6 (7-3)
2. OSORIO, Gui/GAMEROV, Joel (USD) def. GARCIA, Pierre/FAN, Felix (POR) 6-3
3. FISHER, Jamie/DONAT, Carlos (POR) def. KEERASUNTONPONG, P./KOEVERMANS, Guus (USD) 7-5
Match Notes:
San Diego 10-8, 2-2 WCC; National ranking #49
Portland 14-1, 4-0 WCC
Order of finish: Doubles (2,3,1); Singles (3,2,1,6)
