DURHAM, N.C. – For the second time in as many days, the Portland women's tennis team pushed a highly ranked opponent, but No. 36 Florida State held on for a 4-0 win Saturday afternoon in a consolation match of the ITA Kick-Off Weekend.

Portland was leading the three unfinished matches when Gabriella Castaneda hung on for a 6-4, 6-4 win over Maja Mladenovic at No. 2 singles to secure the match.

The Pilots fall to 0-3 on the young season, all against ranked opponents.

Portland's Lucia Butkovska was leading Daneika Borthwick 1-0 in the third set, while Jelena Lazarevic was ahead 7-6, 5-3 at the No. 5 singles position at the match's conclusion. Freshman Radina Dimitrova continued her impressive spring debut at No. 3 singles by forcing a third set against Yukako Noi.

Florida State (3-1) swept the doubles point with comfortable wins at the No. 1 and No. 2 positions for the early 1-0 lead. The Seminoles then secured straight set wins at the No. 6 and No. 4 spots, respectively, before closing out the match.

"This was a great learning experience for our team," Portland head coach Susie Campbell said. "We didn't get the results we were hoping for, but we definitely got better as a team and our confidence has grown from playing close matches with these great teams. Our goal remains the same going into the next matches, we want to do the work in practice and continue to get better on a daily basis.

"Speaking specifically for this match, we came out a bit flat in doubles and FSU took advantage of it. However, I was very impressed with how we responded in singles. We played excellent matches from top to bottom and gave it all we had all the way to the finish. Jelena's match got stopped when she was up two match points, Lucia and Radina were each up a break in the third set and were on our way to taking care of business. Both Maja and Tatiana played good matches and needed just a little bit more patience in deciding moments. We really like the direction that this team is headed and we are just going to keep taking it one day at a time."

Portland will return home and next take the court in Eugene, Ore. against Boise State on Sunday, Feb. 7 at 10 a.m. The Pilots head back to the East Coast for matches against No. 47 Boston College, Harvard and No. 55 Brown on Feb. 12-14.

#36 Florida State 4, #67 Portland 0
Durham, N.C. (Sheffield Indoor Tennis Center)
January 23, 2016

Singles
1. Lucia Butkovska (POR) led Daneika Borthwick (FSU) 4-6, 6-2, 1-0 unfinished
2. Gabriella Castaneda (FSU) def. Maja Mladenovic (POR) 6-4, 6-4
3. Radina Dimitrova (POR) vs. Yukaka Noi (FSU) 6-7, 6-3 unfinished
4. Julia Mikulski (FSU) def. Tatiana Grigoryan (POR) 6-4, 6-3
5. Jelena Lazarevic (POR) led Lana Rush (FSU) 7-6, 5-3 unfinished
6. Ariana Rahmanparast (FSU) def. Saroop Dhatt (POR) 6-1, 6-1

Doubles
1. #41 Borthwick/Noi (FSU) def. Butkovska/Lazarevic (POR) 6-0
2. Castandeda/Rahmanparast (FSU) def. Dimitrova/Grigoryan (POR) 6-2
3. Rush/Mikulski (FSU) led Tori Troesch/Mladenovic (POR) 5-2

Order of Finish: Doubles (1,2) Singles (6,4,2)