PORTLAND, Ore. – The Portland Pilots men’s tennis team swept Weber State then Seattle University at the Louisiana-Pacific Tennis Center, propelling the team to their fifth and sixth straight win at the midway point of the season.
With the results, Portland improves to 7-3 overall, while Weber State drops to 3-8 and Seattle also sits at 3-8.
Portland doubles team seniors Filip Zivkovic and Evan Schleining have now gone undefeated for the last nine straight matches for a 9-1 record so far this season. The duo is currently ranked No. 55 in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association doubles ranking released on Mar. 9, after enjoying the 31st position the previous week.
Sophomore Geoff Hernandez dropped just two sets in both No. 3 singles matches, including a perfect 6-0, 6-0 victory over Seattle’s Alex Montgomery.
Versus the Wildcats, the Pilots had a perfect match winning all three doubles and all six singles matches. Portland’s toughest battle came at the doubles No. 3 position with Nick Wales and Hernandez holding off Cole Paterson and Spencer Marchant by a narrow 9-8 margin.
"Our guys were ready for this match,” said head coach Aaron Gross. “We have had a little time since our last match to work on some things and everyone was eager to put that development to the test. Also, Weber State has played some very good teams close lately, so we were expecting a battle. We had very solid efforts from Zivkovic and Thorp in the singles. Zivkovic and Schleining continued their excellent play winning handily against a solid team at No. 1."
Against the Seattle Redhawks, it was more of the same with Portland winning all singles matches in two-straight sets and also cleaning up in doubles.
"Credit goes to Seattle for playing hard but we played really well today,” said Gross. “The important thing is that we kept our level high even though we rolled through most of our matches. Nobody made it too tricky on themselves by backing off of their game just to win points.”
Portland competes at the Boise State Invitational on Mar. 27 - 28, 2010 but not before taking on Cornell at BSU on Mar. 26 at 2:00 p.m.
“With six straight wins we are feeling pretty confident in our development at this point,” said Gross. “The schedule is going to get tricky now that we are going out on the road, but we feel really good about where we are at."
Portland 7, Weber State 0
Portland, Ore. (Louisiana-Pacific Tennis Center)
March 5, 2010
Singles competition
1. Filip Zivkovic (UP) def. UNGER, Simon (WSU) 6-4, 6-4
2. Bryan Thorp (UP) def. KIEHNE, Sascha (WSU) 6-4, 6-3
3. Geoff Hernandez (UP) def. MARCHANT, Spencer (WSU) 6-1, 6-1
4. Evan Schleining (UP) def. PATERSON, Cole (WSU) 6-3, 6-2
5. Daniel Coelho (UP) def. HINTZE, Dave (WSU) 6-4, 7-5
6. Jackson Martin (UP) def. RODE, Ben (WSU) 6-1, 6-0
Doubles competition
1. #31 Filip Zivkovic/Evan Schleining (UP) def. KIEHNE/UNGER (WSU) 8-2
2. Daniel Coelho/Jackson Martin (UP) def. HIPP, Henning/HINTZE (WSU) 9-7
3. Nick Wales/Geoff Hernandez (UP) def. MARCHANT/PATERSON (WSU) 9-8
Portland 7, Seattle University 0
Portland, Ore. (Louisiana-Pacific Tennis Center)
March 6, 2010
Singles competition
1. Bryan Thorp (UP) def. Mark Shkretbtan (SU): 6-1, 6-0
2. Evan Schleining (UP) def. Simon Meske (SU): 6-1, 6-3
Doubles
1. #31 Zivkovic/Schleining (UP) def. Shkretbtan/Kanehira (SU): 8-1
2. Coelho/Martin (UP) def. Montgomery/Meske (SU): 8-3
3. Hernandez/Nick Wales (UP) def. Boorkman/Adam Strizich (SU): 8-6
