Guay Shines in Pilots Loss to No. 10 Pepperdine
PORTLAND, Ore. –- Junior Justin Guay posted an impressive singles victory with a strong performances, but the No. 10 Pepperdine Waves proved to be too much for the Portland Pilots Saturday afternoon at the Louisiana-Pacific Tennis Center, handing Portland a 5-1 loss.
Guay posted the only singles win for the Pilots (10-8, 2-3 WCC), a straight set victory over Mousheg Hovhannisyan from the four spot.
“Justin was awesome today. He beat a very solid player in straight sets,” Portland head coach Aaron Gross said after the match. “He was tested mentally and physically and came through strong in both of those areas. This should be a big confidence booster for Justin. He has played close against that level of player before, but hadn't come through with a win. He really stepped up today.”
While Guay was the only Pilot to pick up a win, fellow juniors Ratan Gill, Michel Hu Kwo, and Alex Ferrero all played well against ranked opponents.
"We gave everything we had today and made it interesting at times. In the end, Pepperdine is top 10 in the country for a reason; they are tough,” added Gross. “I wasn't sure what to expect today. We have been pretty keyed into the Sacramento State and LMU matches of the previous couple of days that we hadn't really thought too much about this one..”
Hu Kwo came close to upsetting No. 77 Finn Tearney from the second spot. Hu Kwo started the match with a convincing 6-3 score in the first set before Tearney held on for 7-5 advantage in the second set. Tearney was then able to finish off Hu Kwo and dispatch the upset bid with a 6-2 third set.
Ferrero’s opening set also put Pepperdine on notice. Playing against No. 94 Alex Sarkissian, Ferrero battled in the first before falling 7-6. Sarkissian then calmed Ferrero in the second set for the straight set victory.
Gill, meanwhile, played the tenth best player in the nation very well. Although Gill lost both sets 6-4, he held close to No. 10 Sebastian Fanselow
“Ratan played against one of the best college players in the country and played him very close,” noted Gross. “Michel was up a set and a break and ended up losing in a 3rd set. Alex lost the first set in a tie-breaker, picking up with high quality tennis that he showed yesterday. We used a lot of emotional energy in those two matches, so I was worried we would be flat. But that wasn't the case.”
