LAS VEGAS, Nev. – The Portland men's tennis team continued its dominant run Saturday at the high-profile Larry Easley Memorial Classic hosted by UNLV. Junior Mathieu Garcia advanced in the top flight singles finals, while junior Pierre Garcia and sophomore Carlos Donat are Flight 2 singles co-champions after both reached the finals. Portland will also compete for the doubles championship on Sunday as Michail Pervolarakis and Mathieu Garcia advanced.

The Pilots have a combined overall record of 14-2 at the tournament, which includes competitors from traditional tennis powers UCLA, USC, Oregon and UNLV.

Mathieu Garcia defeated Oregon's Simon Stevens by a 6-4, 7-5 margin and will face UCLA's Joe DiGuillo in Sunday's 11 a.m. title match. Pierre Garcia and Carlos Donat both battled back from first set losses to win their semifinal matches against UCLA's Michael Guzman and UNLV's Richard Soldberg, respectively.

"I don't gamble, but if I did I would hit the roulette table tonight," joked Portland head coach Aaron Gross. "We have had an amazing couple of days in Vegas. Mathieu Garcia continues his impressive run with a straight set win over a very solid Oregon player. Pierre Garcia and Carlos Donat both advanced to the finals of Flight 2 against each other, but will not play because I think both players accomplished everything they came here to do and we have no reason to pit them against each other. They both had impressive semifinals matches, each dropping the first set before storming back for victory."

Pervolarakis advanced to the top flight consolation finals with a convincing 6-2, 6-2 win over Oregon's Akihiro Tanaka. He will face Mathieu Rajoanah of Grand Canyon on Sunday.

"Mike Pervolarakis bounced back very nicely from a tough loss against a very good UCLA player yesterday, who will be Mathieu's opponent in the finals," Gross said. "Mike wasn't happy with how he played yesterday, but his level of play in singles was very high today."

Both Portland doubles teams had good performances on Saturday. Pervolarakis and Mathieu Garcia pulled off a pair of impressive tiebreak victories. They defeated Oregon's duo of Stevens and Tanaka and then overcame three match points to beat Riley Smith and Jake Devine of USC, 10-8, in a semifinals tiebreaker.

Donat and Pierre Garcia cruised to an 8-4 quarterfinals win over a Northern Arizona pair before getting bounced by a quality tandem from UCLA in their semifinal matchup.

"Carlos and Pierre had their doubles run stopped in the semis as they were simply overpowered by the UCLA team," Gross said. "However, in probably the match of the tournament Mike and Mathieu overcame three match points to win a deciding tiebreaker against USC and move to the finals. Both guys played well, but Mike in particular really came through at some clutch moments. It was really good to see him catch his stride today."

Portland's doubles team with match up against DiGuillo and Austin Rapp of UCLA for the doubles crown on Sunday at 10 a.m.

"The guys have done a great job this weekend," noted Gross. "You don't go into a quality tournament like this expecting these kind of results, but the fact that we have consistently put ourselves in positions to win by not giving up after losing first sets and fighting back from match points down is very encouraging."

Larry Easley Memorial Classic
Las Vegas, Nev. (Fertitta Tennis Complex)
Nov. 4-6, 2016

Flight 1 Singles Draw  
16 Joe DiGuillo (UCLA) def. Michail Pervolarakis (POR) 6-1, 7-6 (4)
16 Mathieu Garcia (POR) def. Riley Smith (USC) 4-6, 7-5, 6-2
QF Mathieu Garcia (POR) def. Alex Cozbinov (UNLV) 5-7, 6-1, 6-4
SF Mathieu Garcia (POR) def. Simon Stevens (UO) 6-4, 7-5
F Mathieu Garcia (POR) vs. Joe DiGuillo (UCLA) Sunday, 11 AM

Flight 1 Consolation
C Michail Pervolarakis (POR) def. Lorenzo Fucile (GCU) 6-7, 6-0, 1-0 (6)
C Michail Pervolarakis (POR) def. Akihiro Tanaka (UO) 6-2, 6-2
C Michail Pervolarakis (POR) vs. Mathieu Rajoanah (GCU) Sunday, 11 AM

Flight 2 Singles Draw  
16 Carlos Donat (POR) def. Justin Cvitanovic (GCU) 6-2, 6-7 (4), 6-3
QF Pierre Garcia (POR) def. Ty Gentry (UO) 7-5, 7-6 (7)
QF Carlos Donat (POR) def. Ethan Young-Smith (UO) 6-4, 7-5
SF Pierre Garcia (POR) def. Michael Guzman (UCLA) 2-6, 6-0, 6-4
SF Carlos Donat (POR) def. Richard Soldberg (UNLV) 3-6, 6-3, 6-1
F Pierre Garcia (POR) vs. Carlos Donat (POR) DNP, Co-Champions

Doubles Draw
16 Pervolarakis/M. Garcia (POR) def. Guzman/Yamani (UCLA) W/O
16 P. Garcia/Donat (POR) def. Fucile/Rajoanah (GCU) 8-5
QF Pervolarakis/M. Garcia (POR) def. Stevens/Tanaka (UO) 8-7 (4)
QF P. Garcia/Donat (POR) def. Taylor/Nguyen (NAU) 8-4
SF Pervolarakis/M. Garcia (POR) def. Smith/Devine (USC) 8-7 (8)
SF DiGuilio/Rapp (UCLA) def. P. Garcia/Donat (POR) 8-1
F Pervolarakis/M. Garcia (POR) vs. DiGuilio/Rapp (UCLA) Sunday, 10 AM