Men's Tennis Earns Second Sweep in as Many Days

PORTLAND, Ore. --- The Portland men's tennis team defeated the Liberty Flames by a 7-0 margin on Saturday afternoon at the Louisiana-Pacific Tennis Center. It capped a great home-opening weekend for the Pilots who also swept Seattle University on Friday.

The highlight of the win was Portland's No. 1 doubles tandem of Ratan Gill and Alex Ferrero knocking of the No. 19-ranked duo of Thomas Shea and Jorge Azuero by an 8-6 margin to clinch the doubles point for the Pilots. Gill and Ferrero improve to 4-0 in dual doubles matches this spring.

"I am really happy with how we played today," Portland head coach Aaron Gross said. "Ratan and Alex had an awesome win to clinch the doubles point for us. It is probably the highest ranked win any of our players have had in several years. I think that Alex and Ratan will go down as one of the best doubles teams we have ever had. They are on a mission this year. Michel Hu Kwo played an excellent singles match against a very solid player as well. All the way up and down the lineup we played well. We had a lot of respect for Liberty coming in and I think that really helped us to be mentally prepared for this match."

Hu Kwo and Justin Guay got the match started with an 8-2 win at No. 3 doubles. The Flames (3-3) were able to even the score with a win at No. 2 doubles, but Gill and Ferrero clinched the doubles point on center court.

Gill then gave Portland a 2-0 lead with a 6-3, 6-3 win at No. 3 singles, followed by junior Reid deLaubenfels pulling out a 7-6, 6-4 win at No. 2. Hu Kwo then outlasted Thomas by a 6-2, 7-6 margin to clinch the match for the Pilots.

Ferrero also remained perfect in singles play this spring season with a straight set win at the No. 4 spot. Guay picked up a straight sets win at No. 5, while sophomore Kent Andreasen came back from a set down to win 1-6, 7-5, 10-5 to secure the sweep.

Portland will take a week off before travelling to Eugene, Ore. on Feb. 22 to face the UNLV Rebels. The Pilots return to the L-P Tennis Center on Sunday, March 9 to host the Oregon Ducks at 2 p.m.  All Portland home matches will feature free live video at www.PilotsVideo.com as well as live stats at www.Portland.Statbroadcast.com this season.

Portland 7, Liberty 0
Feb 15, 2014 at Portland, Ore.
(Louisiana-Pacific Tennis Center)

Doubles
1. GILL, Ratan/FERRERO, Alex (POR) def. No. 19 THOMAS, Shea/AZUERO, Jorge (LIBERTYM) 8-6
2. SAMAAI, Egon/SEGUR, Dillon (LIBERTYM) def. ANDREASEN, Kent/DeLAUBENFELS, Reid (POR) 8-6
3. HU KWO, Michel/GUAY, Justin (POR) def. VAUGHAN, Stan/LLAMAS, Alejandro (LIBERTYM) 8-2

Singles
1. HU KWO, Michel (POR) def. THOMAS, Shea (LIBERTYM) 6-2, 7-6 (7-4)
2. DeLAUBENFELS, Reid (POR) def. SAMAAI, Egon (LIBERTYM) 7-6 (7-5), 6-4
3. GILL, Ratan (POR) def. AZUERO, Jorge (LIBERTYM) 6-3, 6-3
4. FERRERO, Alex (POR) def. LLAMAS, Alejandro (LIBERTYM) 6-4, 6-4
5. GUAY, Justin (POR) def. VAUGHAN, Stan (LIBERTYM) 6-1, 7-5
6. ANDREASEN, Kent (POR) def. SEGUR, Dillon (LIBERTYM) 1-6, 7-5, 10-5

Order of finish: Doubles (3,2,1); Singles (3,2,1,4,5,6)