PORTLAND, Ore. – The No. 50-ranked Portland men's tennis team posted its second comeback victory in as many days with a 4-3 win over Loyola Marymount Saturday afternoon at the Louisiana Pacific Tennis Center. The win clinched sole possession of first place in the league standings on the heels of the Pilots securing at least a share of their first West Coast Conference regular season title with a 4-3 win over Pepperdine a day earlier.
The Pilots (18-2, 8-1 WCC) extended their home winning streak to 20 matches with the victory and will now go into next week's WCC Championships as the No. 1 seed.
Sophomores Carlos Donat and Felix Fan scored the final two points to clinch the match for the Pilots, who were trailing most of the day after an exhausting match on Friday.
Donat, who provided the three-set clincher against the Waves, defeated Max Kaiser 6-2, 6-3 at the No. 5 position to tie the match. Fan, who missed the previous three matches with a concussion, rallied for a three set victory against Alex Bourgeois at No. 6 to seal the team win.
"Today was a very strange day," Portland head coach Aaron Gross said. "Yesterday was basically our Wimbledon final and we won and then we had to come out and play another match the very next day. We played a team that had nothing to lose and competed very well. I am very thankful we got through the day even though I don't think it would have diminished yesterday at all, but a loss could have slowed our momentum going into the tournament."
Junior Michail Pervolarakis continued his impressive play at No. 1 singles with a straight sets win over Nick Borchenko. Junior Mathieu Garcia posted a three set win against Gabriel Diaz Freire at No. 2 singles as well.
The Lions (7-15, 3-6) grabbed the early lead by winning the doubles point and then also posted singles wins at the No. 3 and No. 4 positions.
"It was really nice to have Felix back today," Gross said. "He wasn't 100 percent today, but as usual he was extremely calm under pressure in the clinching match. We are all going to take a deep breath and step back and try and enjoy the next couple of days. Then we will ramp back up for the end of the season."
Portland will now shift its focus to the WCC Championships held at the Biszantz Family Tennis Center in Claremont, Calif. on April 27-29. The Pilots will receive a first round bye and then face the winner of the No. 4/5 match on Friday at 10 a.m. in the semifinals.
#50 Portland 4, LMU 3
Portland, Ore. (Louisiana Pacific Tennis Center)
April 22, 2017
Singles
1. PERVOLARAKIS, Mike (POR) def. Nick Borchenko (LMU) 6-2, 7-5
2. GARCIA, Mathieu (POR) def. Gabriel Diaz Freire (LMU) 6-4, 5-7, 6-3
3. Luke Bohuslav (LMU) def. GARCIA, Pierre (POR) 6-4, 3-6, 6-3
4. Lukas Moenter (LMU) def. WALLACE, Alex (POR) 6-0, 7-6 (7-1)
5. DONAT, Carlos (POR) def. Max Kaiser (LMU) 6-2, 6-3
6. FAN, Felix (POR) def. Alex Bourgeois (LMU) 6-0, 3-6, 6-1
Doubles
1. Nick Borchenko/Gabriel Diaz Freire (LMU) def. PERVOLARAKIS, Mike/DONAT, Carlos (POR) 7-6 (7-3)
2. WALLACE, Alex/FAN, Felix (POR) def. Luke Bohuslav/Ryan Brown (LMU) 6-2
3. Lukas Moenter/Max Kaiser (LMU) def. GARCIA, Mathieu/GARCIA, Pierre (POR) 7-5
Match Notes:
LMU 7-15, 3-6 WCC
Portland 18-2, 8-1 WCC; National ranking #50
Order of finish: Doubles (2,3,1); Singles (1,3,2,4,5,6)
