Pilots Edge Gonzaga; Extend Win Streak to Five
PORTLAND, Ore. --- The Portland Pilots men’s tennis team opened West Coast Conference play Friday evening in an intense dual match with the Gonzaga Bulldogs as the Pilots emerged with a 4-3 victory at the Louisiana-Pacific Tennis Center.
Sophomore tandem Alex Ferrero and Michel Hu Kwo picked up an 8-2 win over Vladimir Mijatovic and Olivier Jamin in their doubles match. Within a few minutes, Portland (5-0, 1-0 WCC) sealed the team point as senior Geoff Hernandez and freshman Stefan Micov closed their match against Gonzaga's (4-3, 0-1 WCC) Scott Sullivan and Zhia Hwa Chong, 8-1.
"We got through a tight one today,” Portland head coach Aaron Gross admitted after the match. “We played really good doubles, which really proved to be the difference in the end. Geoff Hernandez had a great day. Besides playing one of his best doubles matches, he came through with a really big win at the #2 against a good opponent.”
The singles competition produced much closer results. After falling behind 3-0 and 4-1 in the first set, Hernandez battle back against Levin Guillermo to win 7-6 before taking the match with a 6-4 second set victory from the second position.
With Portland now leading 2-1, Micov dominated the third set of his match to extend the lead to 3-1. The freshman had taken the first set against Gonzaga’s Mijatovic, 6-4, dropped the second set 7-5, and then took all six games to pick up the point for the Pilots.
The Pilots got the clinching point from the fourth position in Ferrero, who was playing in just his third singles competition of the season. Ferrero edged Jamin 7-5 in the first set before taking the second set, 6-3, breaking Jamin’s serve in the final game.
“I really like where our team is right now,” Gross added. “We aren't playing great, but are competing well and improving steadily. My hope is that we will be playing some of our best tennis in late March and April.”
Gross continued, “We will take the lessons from these tough matches and apply them in practice to become better. Plus, we surely will have close matches later in the season and this experience will help us when those come up."
In the midst of a five match winning streak, the Pilots conclude their six match homestand on Thursday as UC Irvine comes to Portland for an 11 a.m. match.
Singles competition
1. NAZAL, Alvaro (GON) def. HU KWO, Michel (POR) 7-6, 6-3
2. HERNANDEZ, Geoff (POR) def. GUILLERMO, Levin (GON) 7-6, 6-4
3. MICOV, Stefan (POR) def. MIJATOVIC, Vladimir (GON) 6-4, 5-7, 6-0
4. FERRERO, Alex (POR) def. JAMIN, Olivier (GON) 7-5, 6-3
5. CHONG, Zhia Hwa (GON) def. GUAY, Justin (POR) 6-3, 6-4
6. SULLIVAN, Scott (GON) def. COELHO, Daniel (POR) 7-5, 6-4
Doubles competition
1. FERRERO, Alex/HU KWO, Michel (POR) def. MIJATOVIC, Vladimir/JAMIN, Olivier (GON) 8-2
2. HERNANDEZ, Geoff/MICOV, Stefan (POR) def. SULLIVAN, Scott/CHONG, Zhia Hwa (GON) 8-1
3. NAZAL, Alvaro/ISMATH, Muzeen (GON) def. GUAY, Justin/COELHO, Daniel (POR) 8-1
