Shorthanded Pilots Knock Off No. 64 Santa Clara

PORTLAND, Ore. --- The Portland Pilots defeated the No. 64 Santa Clara Broncos in dramatic fashion by a 4-3 margin on Sunday afternoon in West Coast Conference men's tennis action at the Louisiana-Pacific Tennis Center. Playing without injured senior Alex Ferrero, the Pilots got a big boost from the bottom of the lineup as sophomore Kent Andreasen won in three sets at the No. 5 position to give the Pilots the win. Freshman Alex Wallace picked up a big win at No. 6 singles to set up Andreasen's clinching point.

"Today was a special day for our program," Portland head coach Aaron Gross said. "With Alex Ferrero going down yesterday to a possibly season-ending injury and him being such a big part of our program, it was hard waking up this morning feeling positive about our chances today. I knew our guys would fight like crazy, but Santa Clara is a legit team. Their top four guys can play with nearly anyone's top four in the country."

The Pilots (12-6, 5-2 WCC) took the doubles point despite having to shift the pairings around with the loss of Ferrero. Senior Ratan Gill, who previously played No. 1 doubles with Ferrero, teamed with Wallace and took No. 3 doubles by an 8-5 margin. Andreasen and Reid deLaubenfels then won 8-6 at No. 2 to secure the doubles point.

"Today's inspiration was the seniors, including Alex Ferrero, who was 100 percent behind his teammates from the moment he hobbled into the tennis center this morning," Gross said. "His demeanor really set the tone for us today. Justin Guay and Mike Hu Kwo did awesome in doubles, stepping in and battling Santa Clara's No. 1 to 7-7. Ratan, playing without Ferrero for the first time in two years, stepped up big time with Alex Wallace, who was playing his first ever college dual match doubles point."

The momentum carried into singles play as Gill defeated Ashot Khacharyan at No. 3 singles by a 7-6, 6-1 margin. Ilya Osintsev held off deLaubenfels in a hard-fought match at No. 2 singles and the Broncos (12-6, 3-4) tied the match at 2-2 when John Lamble outlasted Hu Kwo in three sets at No. 1. Santa Clara then went up 3-2 with Mikheil Khmiadashvili defeating Justin Guay in straight sets at No. 4.

"The heroes for the day were two guys from Vancouver, Washington: Kent Andreasen and Alex Wallace," Gross noted. "They were the last two left on court with us down 3-2 and Alex was able to close out a huge win. Kent bounced back after losing the second set to nail down the match for us."

Wallace and Andreasen, the two least experienced players on the Portland roster, would put forth clutch performances. Wallace won in straight sets, holding off Jesse Ross 7-5 in the second set. Andreasen took the first set 7-5, but Sam Bertram evened the score with a 6-2 second set win. Andreasen fed off the energy of Wallace's win and raced to a decisive third set win to secure the match.

"It has been an incredibly emotional last two days," Gross concluded. "Yesterday was really tough to take, more so because of Alex Ferrero's injury then the actual loss. Today we just chugged along for five hours walking on a razor's edge. Everyone is physically and emotionally exhausted, but we are thrilled with the result. We know we aren't going to be together with this group too much longer. I will savor this memory and I hope our seniors will too."

Portland remains alone in third place in the WCC standings and has secured at least a tie for third with two regular season matches remaining. The team will travel to San Diego (12-7, 6-0) on Friday and then BYU (8-13, 2-4) on Saturday. The 2014 WCC Championships are scheduled for April 23-26 in San Diego, Calif.

Portland 4, #64 Santa Clara 3
Portland, Ore. (Louisiana-Pacific Tennis Center)
April 13, 2014

Singles
1. LAMBLE, John (SCU) def. HU KWO, Michel (POR) 6-3, 4-6, 6-3
2. OSINTSEV, Ilya (SCU) def. DeLAUBENFELS, Reid (POR) 6-4, 7-5
3. GILL, Ratan (POR) def. KHACHARYAN, Ashot (SCU) 7-6, 6-1
4. KHMIADASHVILI, M. (SCU) def. GUAY, Justin (POR) 6-2, 6-4
5. ANDREASEN, Kent (POR) def. BERTRAM, Sam (SCU) 7-5, 2-6, 6-2
6. WALLACE, Alex (POR) def. ROSS, Jesse (SCU) 6-3, 7-5

Doubles
1. LAMBLE, John/OSINTSEV, Ilya (SCU) vs. HU KWO, Michel/GUAY, Justin (POR) 7-7 DNF
2. ANDREASEN, Kent/DeLAUBENFELS, Reid (POR) def. KHACHARYAN, Ashot/KHMIADASHVILI, M. (SCU) 8-6
3. GILL, Ratan/WALLACE, Alex (POR) def. BERTRAM, Sam/TJUATJADARMA, M. (SCU) 8-5

Match Notes:
Santa Clara 12-6, 3-4 WCC; National ranking #64
Portland 12-6, 5-2 WCC
Order of finish: Doubles (3,2); Singles (3,2,1,4,6,5)