LOS ANGELES, Calif. – The No. 49 Loyola Marymount men's tennis team posted a 4-0 win over the Portland Pilots on Sunday afternoon at the LMU Tennis Center. The Lions improve to 15-2 overall and 5-0 in West Coast Conference play, while the Pilots fall to 9-8 and 4-3 in league matches.

"LMU is just a deep and solid team," Portland head coach Aaron Gross said. "They will most likely compete against San Diego next week for first place in the conference. I really like our chances against both of those teams on our home court, but they outplayed us today."

LMU set the tone with convincing wins in doubles play. The Lions won 6-1 at No. 2 and 6-2 at No. 3 to clinch the point.

The host team took the first set in all six singles matches. Errol Smith, Lucas Moreno and Nick Borchenko won in straight sets in the middle of the lineup to clinch for LMU.

Portland was batting back in the three other singles matches. No. 48-ranked Michail Pervolarakis was leading 4-1 in the second set against Gabriel Diaz Freire at No. 1. Senior Mathieu Garcia pulled ahead 5-4 in the second versus Lukas Moenter in the No. 2 spot, and freshman Tom Hann was up 4-1 in the second after dropping a first set tiebreaker to Diego Nava at No. 6.

"I feel like we were heading for third sets in the remaining matches on the courts with good shots at winning," Gross said, "but that didn't really matter with as poorly as we played in doubles today. We spent a lot of our energy trying to adjust to the conditions and in some cases wishing it was different rather than putting all of our energy into problem-solving with the conditions at hand."

Portland will return home to close out the regular season with a pair of WCC matches at the Louisiana Pacific Tennis Center next weekend. The Pilots host Saint Mary's on Friday and Pacific on Sunday. Both matches are set for 11 a.m. starts with live video and scoring available at PortlandPilots.com.

"We will be back in familiar territory at home next week and I feel confident that we are better because of this trip," Gross noted. "We definitely want to finish the regular season on a strong note and have another shot at teams like this on a neutral court at the conference tournament."

#49 Loyola Marymount 4, Portland 0
Los Angeles, Calif. (LMU Tennis Center)
April 8, 2018

Singles
1. Gabriel Diaz Freire (LMU) vs. #48 Michail Pervolarakis (POR) 6-3, 1-4 unfinished
2. Lukas Moenter (LMU) vs. Mathieu Garcia (POR) 6-4, 4-5 unfinished
3. Errol Smith (LMU) def. Pierre Garcia (POR) 6-2, 6-4
4. Lucas Moreno (LMU) def. Carlos Donat (POR) 7-5, 6-2
5. Nick Borchenko (LMU) def. Alex Wallace (POR) 6-1, 6-1
6. Diego Nava (LMU) vs. Tom Hann (POR) 7-6 (4), 1-4 unfinished

Doubles
1. Diaz Freire/Borchenko (LMU) vs. Pervolarakis/Hann (POR) 5-2, unfinished
2. Moenter/Charles Boyce (LMU) def. Garcia/Garcia (POR) 6-1
3. Nava/Smith (LMU) def. Donat/Jamie Fisher (POR) 6-2

Match Notes
Portland 9-8. 4-3 WCC
Loyola Marymount 15-2, 5-0 WCC; National Ranking #49
Order of Finish: Doubles (2,3), Singles (5,3,4)