EUGENE, Ore. --- The University of Portland men’s tennis team dropped a heartbreaker, falling to Cal Poly 4-3 on Sunday at the University of Oregon campus. The loss snapped a two-match winning streak for the Pilots (4-2), while the Mustangs improve to 3-1 overall.

"Today was one of those matches you hate to lose, but know that having the experience under your belt will serve you well later in the season,” Portland head coach Aaron Gross said. “We were 5-0 on the season in getting the doubles point coming into today, for some reason we came out really flat in doubles and lost the point. That proved to be the difference in the match.”

Cal Poly earned doubles victories at No. 1 and No. 3 to secure the initial point. Portland’s top three each won in singles action, but Cal Poly swept the bottom three points to pull out the victory.

“Our top three guys in singles came up big today,” Gross said. “Filip Zivkovic put forth a gutsy, three set effort to remain unbeaten on the season. Dillon Pottish continues to roll, routinely beating an experienced opponent, and Joel Kincaid bounced back after a tough loss yesterday for a nice win. Evan Schleining battled the whole way but couldn't get it done in the deciding match, losing 6-4 in the third set.”

Zivkovic continues his impressive sophomore campaign with his second three-set victory of the spring. He is 5-0 overall at the No. 2 singles position.

"It was a four and a half hour match and was not fun to lose,” Gross added. “But our guys showed a ton of character at the end of a long weekend. I think we showed a lot of heart today."

Portland will return to the court on Friday, Feb. 22 to host the Montana Grizzlies. First serve is scheduled for 10 a.m. at the Louisiana Pacific Tennis Center.

Cal Poly 4, Portland 3

Feb. 3, 2008

Eugene, Ore.

Doubles
1. Blake Wardman/Joel Akerberg (CP) def. Filip Zivkovic/Charlie Yemm (POR) 8-5
2. Robert Foy/Darryn Young (CP) def. Bryan Thorp/Evan Schleining (POR) 8-3
3. Joel Kincaid/Renaldo Domoney (POR) def. Andrew Gerst/Nick Berger (CP) 8-7 (7-2)

SIngles
1. Kincaid (POR) def. Akerberg (CP) 6-4, 6-4
2. Zivkovic (POR) def. Gerst (CP) 2-6, 6-4, 6-4
3. Dillon Pottish (POR) def. Young (CP) 6-1, 6-2
4. Foy (CP) def. Schleining (POR) 7-6, 5-7, 6-4
5. Wardman (CP) def. Yemm (POR) 6-3, 6-2
6. Drew Jacobs (CP) def. Thorp (POR) 7-5, 6-2