The University of Portland’s men’s tennis team (18-4) waltzed to a 4-0 victory over Saint Mary’s (9-10) in the first round of the 2005 WCC Championship on Friday afternoon. With the win, the Pilots earn the right to square off against No. 2 seed San Diego on Saturday at 2:30 p.m. in the second round.

The Pilots began the match by taking the doubles point with wins in the No. 1 and No. 3 positions. Matthew Loucks and James Redpath extended their doubles winning streak to 18 matches by recording a 8-5 win in the No. 1 position over the Gaels’ Andre Sion and Julien Tizot. Roman Borvanov and Alex Strom gutted out a 9-8 victory in the No. 3 position to clinch the doubles point.

Portland then claimed victories in the only three singles matches that were completed. Borvanov (25-9) recorded a 6-3, 6-0 victory in the No. 1 position to extend his winning streak to six matches. Redpath (25-5) scored a 6-3, 6-3 decision in the No. 3 position, while Scott Kennel (15-9) clinched the match in the No. 6 position with a 6-0, 6-3 win. With the dual clinched, the remaining three singles matches were pulled off the court.

“We played a little nervous today,” Pilots head coach Aaron Gross said. “I think everyone realized that we haven’t been out of the first round in a while. We’re going to need to play better tomorrow.”

The Pilots and San Diego, currently slotted at No. 31 in the ITA rankings, have not met since the 2004 conference tournament, when the Toreros claimed a 4-0 victory in the first round. The semifinal match is scheduled to begin at 2:30 p.m. on Saturday in Malibu, Calif.