SAN DIEGO, Calif. --- The University of Portland men’s tennis team looks to build on a solid season as they prepare for the opening round of the West Coast Conference Championships held this weekend at the Barnes Tennis Center in San Diego, Calif. The Pilots earned the No. 3 seed and will face No. 6 Gonzaga on Friday at 3:00 p.m.
The winner will advance to face either No. 2 San Diego or No. 7 Loyola Marymount on Saturday at 3:00 p.m.
Portland (12-7) jumped out to an 8-1 record before suffering a four-match losing streak late in the season that included matches against No. 57 Harvard and No. 64 UC Irvine. The Pilots closed out the regular season with a solid win over Idaho.
Gonzaga (9-13) is coming off a three-match win streak and has won four of its last five matches.
The Bulldogs are led in singles by Jake Davis (13-9) and Scott Sullivan who has posted 10 wins as a freshman. Gonzaga also return 2008 WCC honorable mentions junior Roman Dojcak and senior Stefan Feddersen.
Portland is led by 2008 all-conference first team junior Filip Zivkovic (11-8) and freshman Nikoloz Kurdadze (13-5) at the No. 3. Senior Joel Kincaid (4-6) rallied back after an injury sidelined him early in the season.
In doubles play, the duo of junior Evan Schleining and Zivkovic (14-5) reached a national ranking high of No. 36 during the season. Geoff Hernandez and Nick Wales posted an 11-8 at the No. 3.
The Pilots posted team totals of 67-46 in dual singles play and 36-21 in doubles this spring.
The No. 3 spot is the highest Portland has been seeded since the WCC went to a team format in 1995. Portland last earned the No. 3 seed in 2005.
Portland has finished third at the WCC Championships on four occasions, most recently in 1999.
All the action this weekend can be followed by visiting the WCC Men’s Tennis Championship Tournament Central page at www.wccsports.com.
