Pilots Battle No. 39 Cougars, Fall Short
PORTLAND, Ore. --- Junior tandem Ratan Gill and Alex Ferrero knocked off the No. 86 ranked doubles team in the nation while junior Michel Hu Kwo and senior Jackson Martin each picked up singles wins, but the Portland Pilots lost a tough 5-2 decision to the No. 39 BYU Cougars Thursday afternoon at the Louisiana-Pacific Tennis Center.
It was the final home match of the season for the Pilots, who are 10-9 with a 2-4 WCC record with two matches remaining before the WCC Tournament. BYU improves to 17-4, 5-0 in the WCC.
Gill and Ferrero fell behind No. 86 Patrick Kawka/Francis Sargeant early in the doubles match before storming back for the 8-6 upset. The fortune did not carry over to the other courts, however, as the Cougars edged Portland from the second spot (9-7) and won the third spot as well (8-2).
"We had the doubles point for the taking and didn't push til the end and it slipped away," Portland head coach Aaron Gross admitted. "A couple of other opportunities in singles we missed and that was the difference. Over the course of the 5 hour match it probably came down to playing a little better tennis for 10 minutes overall and we could have had a nice win."
In singles play, Hu Kwo was in control of the match from the very beginning, cruising to a straight set win over Spencer Smith with scores of 6-3, 6-3 from the second spot.
Martin also picked up the victory, earning the first set in the tiebreaking game before his opponent retired.
Ferrero challenged the Cougar’s Sargeant from the third spot, forcing a tiebreaker after capturing the second set 6-3, but the Spaniard ultimately fell after losing a crucial game late on a point penalty.
"Ratan and Alex played a great doubles match, coming back from 4-0 down to win and Michel was rock solid at number two singles," Gross said. "It wasn't a match that we were favored to win or expected to win, but it was one that we all knew was possible if things went well. It just feels like we missed a chance today to do something special."
Continued Gross, "Obviously they are a good team (currently ranked #39), but we had some chances and didn't get them. Some of the chances BYU stepped up and some of the chances we handed away. You can't beat a team of their level by missing too many controllable opportunities."
Portland hits the road next week for the final two matches of the regular season, playing the San Francisco Dons Friday at 11 a.m. and Santa Clara Sunday at 11 a.m.
