PORTLAND, Ore. – The Portland men's tennis team remained unbeaten on its home court with a 6-0 sweep of the Saint Mary's Gaels Saturday afternoon in West Coast Conference action. The Pilots improve to 9-0 at the Louisiana-Pacific Tennis Center this season and will close out the regular season on Sunday versus No. 71 Pacific at 10 a.m.
The Pilots (14-7, 5-3 WCC) didn't drop a single set in the victory over the Gaels (5-15, 0-7), but it was a hard-fought match nonetheless.
After dominating at No. 1 doubles, the Pilots were down a break at the No. 2 and No. 3 positions. Both Portland tandems broke back and then sophomore Alex Wallace and senior Kent Andreasen clinched the doubles point with a tiebreak win at the No. 2 spot.
Portland sophomores Michail Pervolarakis, Mathieu Garcia and Pierre Garcia each won in straight sets in the top three spots of the singles lineup, but all of the matches were close.
Wallace and freshman Felix Fan then cruised to straight set wins at No. 4 and No. 5, while freshman Carlos Donat won his first set comfortably at the No. 6 position when the match was called.
"I don't think overall we played our best today," Portland head coach Aaron Gross said, "but we're nearing the end of a long spring and any win is a good win at this time of the season. The bottom of our lineup looked sharp, but we struggled in doubles and in some spots in singles. Again it's a good problem to have to not feel like you played great but still won every set that we played today.
"We try to consistently focus on keeping our level high no matter who the opponent is. Alex Wallace was very impressive today. He and Kent came back from a break down in doubles to secure the clinching victory there and then he didn't drop a game in his singles win."
Wallace moved his dual record to 12-5 overall and 5-2 in league play with the win. Pervolarakis ran his singles win streak to nine matches while improving to 13-4 this spring overall and 4-1 in WCC singles play. Fan and Pierre Garcia also now have 13 wins in dual matches this season.
Portland will close out the regular season with a stiff challenge in the form of No. 71 Pacific (13-10, 5-1).
"Tomorrow's match against Pacific is a great opportunity for us to play against an experienced and talented team," Gross noted. "I feel like we are prepared enough to play at the highest level that we are capable of and that's all we really can expect. If that's good enough then we will have a chance for a win, and if not we will get better from the experience. All of these experiences are really important for our young guys. I still have to remind myself that we are playing all freshmen and sophomores in the singles lineup."
Live video and statistics for tomorrow's match will be available at PortlandPilots.com.
Portland 6, Saint Mary's 0
Portland, Ore. (Louisiana-Pacific Tennis Center)
April 16, 2016
Singles
1. PERVOLARAKIS, Mike (POR) def. MARKIEWICZ, James (SMC) 6-3, 6-4
2. GARCIA, Mathieu (POR) def. HUNT, Thomas A. (SMC) 6-4, 6-4
3. GARCIA, Pierre (POR) def. De LUIS LAMELAS, M. (SMC) 6-4, 7-5
4. WALLACE, Alex (POR) def. LAGMAN, Jacob (SMC) 6-0, 6-0
5. FAN, Felix (POR) def. LEE, Brian (SMC) 6-1, 6-3
6. DONAT, Carlos (POR) vs. WAGNER, Alec (SMC) 6-1, unfinished
Doubles
1. PERVOLARAKIS, Mike/GARCIA, Mathieu (POR) def. HUNT, Thomas A./VOLLENWEIDER, Nash (SMC) 6-1
2. ANDREASEN, Kent/WALLACE, Alex (POR) def. WAGNER, Alec/MARKIEWICZ, James (SMC) 7-6 (7-4)
3. FAN, Felix/GARCIA, Pierre (POR) vs. LAGMAN, Jacob/LEE, Brian (SMC) 6-5, unfinished
Match Notes:
Saint Mary's 5-14, 0-6 WCC
Portland 13-7, 4-3 WCC
Order of finish: Doubles (1,2); Singles (2,1,3,4,5)
