The University of Portland men’s tennis team won its second game in as many days on Sunday afternoon, recording a grueling 4-3 victory over Sacramento State (8-9, 3-1 Big Sky). The match, which took four hours and 30 minutes to complete, improves the Pilots’ record to 14-4 on the season.
The dual started off with the two teams splitting the six singles matches. Roman Borvanov plowed through his opponent at the No. 2 position, winning 6-0, 6-0. In the No. 3 position, James Redpath scored a 6-2, 6-4 win. Scott Kennel needed three sets to defeat the Hornets’ Ramon Perez in a hotly-contested match at the No. 6 position.
“Singles-wise, the hero of the day was Kennel,” Pilots head coach Aaron Gross said. “He had a see-saw match, but ended up being very clutch at the end.”
With the dual knotted at three apiece heading into doubles play, the Pilots needed to win at least two of the matches to claim victory. They did just that, winning in the No. 1 and No. 3 positions to give Portland its 14th victory of the dual season.
“Today was just a grind and a major gut check,” Gross said. “We battled at every position and I thought everyone gave a great effort.”
The victory is Redpath’s fourth consecutive in singles, and he has now won 16 of his last 17. The junior from Christchurch, New Zealand now has a 16-2 singles record and a 16-1 doubles record with three different partners.
“Redpath had a great weekend,” Gross said. “He has been a rock this whole year. The nice part of him this year is that even when he is not playing his best tennis, he still is finding a way to get it done.”
The match, which was originally scheduled to be held at Sacramento’s Rio Del Oro Racquet Club, was forced to an indoor facility because of forecasted inclement weather in the region.
The squad will travel to Boise, Idaho next weekend, where it will play three games in three days beginning on Friday against Montana. Portland will also play Idaho and Montana State in the team’s final action before the WCC Championship, scheduled for April 22-24 in Malibu, Calif.
