SEATTLE, Wash. – The Portland men's tennis team battled an experienced East Tennessee State squad before falling by a 6-1 margin Monday at the Nordstrom Tennis Center. The Pilots (1-1) lost four of the six singles matches in three sets.

The Buccaneers (2-3) are coming off of a NCAA Tournament appearance last season and feature a lineup with four of six singles players as upperclassmen. Portland, meanwhile, has four sophomores and two freshmen in its lineup and played just its second match of the season.

"I think really the difference in the match came down to the fact we just haven't had any competitive matches yet and they played four very competitive matches," Portland head coach Aaron Gross said.

That early season experience paid off as the Bucs cruised to the doubles point for a 1-0 lead.

"They were ready from the get-go in doubles and got a jump on us early and we were just a little bit hesitant," Gross noted.

Singles play was extremely tight with Pilot sophomore Pierre Garcia earning Portland's lone point with a straight sets win at No. 3 singles. ETSU was ahead 2-1 following a straight sets win at No. 4, but the remaining four matches all went three sets. Portland had won the first set in three of those matches, but all four results went to the Bucs.

"Singles we were in there in nearly every match," said Gross. "Pierre had a nice win and Alex Wallace had three match points in the second set but couldn't get over the hump and end up losing 7-5 in the third. I think those are the type of matches that could swing our way after we've had a few more of these under our belt. I'm hopeful that we will learn a lot from today. We have some things to come home and work on to better prepare ourselves when we take the court next Saturday."

The Pilots will return to Seattle for two more matches this coming weekend. Portland will face Cal Poly on Saturday at 2 p.m. and then Washington on Sunday at noon. Both matches will have live video courtesy of GoHuskies.com.

East Tennessee State 6, Portland 1
Seattle, Wash. (Nordstrom Tennis Center)
January 25, 2016

Singles
1. David Biosca (ETSU) def. Michail Pervolarakis (POR) 4-6, 6-4, 6-3
2. Rogerio Ribeiro (ETSU) def. Mathieu Garcia (POR) 6-3, 3-6, 6-1
3. Pierre Garcia (POR) def. Diego Nunez (ETSU) 7-5, 6-1
4. Robert Herrera (ETSU) def. Felix Fan (POR) 6-2, 6-1
5. Sebastian Yllera (ETSU) def. Alex Wallace (POR) 3-6, 7-6, 7-5
6. Wenceslao Albin (ETSU) def. Carlos Donat (POR) 5-7, 6-1, 6-3

Doubles
1. Ismael Merino/Diego Nunez (ETSU) def. Michail Pervolarakis/Felix Fan (POR) 6-2
2. Rogerio Ribeiro/David Biosca (ETSU) def. Pierre Garcia/Alex Wallace (POR) 6-2
3. Sebastian Yllera/Robert Herrera (ETSU) vs. Kent Andersen/Carlos Donat (POR) 5-3 unfinished

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