MALIBU, Calif. – Portland men's tennis senior Michail Pervolarakis posted a pair of wins against nationally ranked opponents before falling to No. 11 Brandon Holt of USC in the quarterfinals at the prestigious Oracle ITA Masters held at Pepperdine University.

Pervolarakis, the reigning West Coast Conference Player of the Year, opened the 2017-18 season ranked No. 95 nationally in the Oracle/ITA preseason rankings and was the No. 10 seed in the 32-player draw.

He defeated No. 33 Eduardo Mena (Tennessee Tech) in three sets on Friday and then knocked off No. 72 Thibault Cancel (Alabama) in Saturday morning's Round of 16. Holt outlasted Pervolarakis in a hard fought first set 6-4 on Saturday afternoon and then completed the match 6-0 in the second set.

"Mike picked up right where we left off from his earlier match in the first set of the quarterfinals," Portland head coach Aaron Gross said. "He played really well and the set was literally decided by a couple of points. He just got behind in the second, lost a little bit of his legs, and then his opponent played with tremendous confidence."

Pervolarakis also teamed with Loyola Marymount's Eva Marie Voracek to win an opening round mixed doubles match on Friday morning, before falling in the Round of 16 later that afternoon.

The Oracle ITA Masters 32-player draw featured 16 nationally-ranked players and was comprised of the top returning players from each Division I conference, as well as at-large invitations to other top players from around the nation. Nine players in the field earned Top 40 preseason singles rankings earlier this month.

"It was a great start to the fall for Mike," Gross said. "He hasn't played a tournament being totally healthy since July, so this performance exceeded our expectations. If he has one or two more runs like this in a couple of the big events, he is going to have a very good shot to qualify for the NCAA Championships in May."

Pervolarakis will next travel to Tulsa, Okla. to compete in the Saint Francis Health System ITA Men's All-American Championships. He is scheduled to play in the Qualifying Singles Draw and will also partner with teammate Mathieu Garcia in the Qualifying Doubles Draw.

Oracle ITA Masters
Malibu, Calif. (Pepperdine University/Malibu Racquet Club)
Sept. 21-24, 2017

Men's Singles
32 #95 Michail Pervolarakis (POR) def. #33 Eduardo Mena (TTECH) 1-6, 7-5, 6-1
16 #95 Michail Pervolarakis (POR) def. #72 Thibault Cancel (ALA) 6-4, 6-4
QF #11 Brandon Holt (USC) def. #95 Michail Pervolarakis (POR) 6-4, 6-0

Mixed Doubles
32 Pervolarakis (POR)/Voracek (LMU) def. L. Garcia/Mena (AP/TTECH) 6-1
16 Miyazaki (OKLA)/Scott (TEX) def. Pervolarakis (POR)/Voracek (LMU) 7-5