PORTLAND, Ore. – The Portland Pilots men’s and women’s tennis team head to the West Coast Conference Championships this weekend in San Diego, Calif. The Portland men have been awarded the sixth seed and open against No. 3 San Diego on Friday, April 23 at 3 p.m. The Pilot women are the No. 7 seed and will meet the second-seeded Pepperdine Waves also on Friday at 11:30 a.m.
The event, which hosts all eight WCC men’s and women’s teams, is held for the second straight year at the Barnes Tennis Center in San Diego, Calif. on April 23-25. The winner of the tournament will earn the automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament, which will be hosted this year by the University of Georgia.
The Pilot men most recently swept Idaho State 7-0, bringing their regular season record to 9-8 overall. Portland played only Gonzaga in the regular season, beating them by a 5-2 score. UP is led by the #73 nationally-ranked doubles duo of seniors Filip Zivkovic and Evan Schleining who has lost just two times in fifteen dual competitions this season. Their season-high national ranking was 30th (03-30-2010). UP last met San Diego at the 2009 WCC Tournament where USD won 4-0.
Riding the momentum of a program first-ever victory over WCC opponent Loyola Marymount, the Pilot women enter the tournament with a 6-13 overall record and 1-4 in WCC action. Senior Megan Sporndli has a team leading 11-6 record in singles (3-1 WCC). The doubles team of Sporndli and junior Lacey Pflibsen are undefeated in WCC action (3-0) going into the tournament and sit at 7-6 overall. UP last faced Pepperdine on April 20, 2002 when the Waves won by a score of 7-0.
All the action this weekend can be followed by visiting the WCC Tennis Championship Tournament Central page by clicking here.
