Final CCB Collegiate Invitational Draws I Day 1 Recap I Day 2 Recap

BIRMINGHAM, Ala.  – Portland men's tennis concluded its fall season Sunday with final matches at the CCB Collegiate Invitational hosted by the Country Club of Birmingham. The tournament was highlighted by doubles tandem Pierre Garcia and Carlos Donat winning the Houndstooth Draw title on Saturday.

The top-seeded duo in the draw won in a tiebreaker against a team from Troy in the semifinals and then posted an 8-4 victory against a pair from Samford to claim the doubles title in the finals.

The Pilots had four players compete at the tournament as Mathieu Garcia and Alex Wallace also made the trip. Participating teams included Alabama, East Tennessee State, Lipscomb, Miami, Samford, South Alabama, Southern Mississippi, Tennessee, Troy, Tulane and UAB.
 
Pierre Garcia also reached the semifinals of the White Singles Draw, but fell in straight sets to the top-seed from Miami on Saturday.

"We had decent results this weekend, but I don't think any of us are coming home feeling satisfied," Portland head coach Aaron Gross said. "Carlos and Alex struggled with some health issues, but overall the trickier part was balancing playing in a really cool, but low-key fall event that these guys earned, with the intensity that we constantly need to exhibit to outperform our potential. I take full responsibility in that regard. I would do some preparation differently looking back that could help bring the sense of urgency to the situation. We talk about creating 'special' a lot. This tournament was special in a lot of ways, but we probably fell short in the most important ways – preparation and results. It is a good lesson at this part of the season to remember and we won't make that mistake again."

The Pilots will now shift their focus to the spring dual season. Coming off of the program's first West Coast Conference championship last year, Portland is expected to be ranked and hoping to compete for the team's first NCAA Championships appearance. The spring dual schedule begins against Georgia State on Jan. 20 in Eugene, Ore. and then the Pilots will head to Wake Forest for the ITA Kick-Off Weekend on Jan. 26-27.

CCB Collegiate Invitational
Birmingham, Ala. (Country Club of Birmingham)
Nov. 10-12, 2017

Crimson Singles
16 Mathieu Garcia (POR) def. Alejandro Manzanares (LIP) 4-6, 7-6 (1), 6-0
QF #113 (1) Robert Herrera (ETSU) def. Mathieu Garcia (POR) 6-2, 6-0
C Bojan Jankuloivski (MIA) def. Mathieu Garcia (POR) 6-2, 7-5
C Edson Ortiz (ALA) def. Mathieu Garcia (POR) 6-3, 6-4

White Singles
16 Pierre Garcia (POR) def. Andrew Rogers (TENN) 6-3, 6-4
16 (2) Frazier Rengifo (ETSU) def. Carlos Donat (POR) 7-5, 6-3
QF Pierre Garcia (POR) def. Stefan Gonzalez (UAB) 2-6, 6-1, 6-2
SF (1)Adria Soriano (MIA) def. Pierre Garcia (POR) 6-2, 6-4
C Mustapha Belcora (TROY) def. Carlos Donat (POR) 6-3, 3-2, ret.
C Aleksandar Petrovic (SAM) def. Carlos Donat (POR) 6-3, ret.
C Zhe Zhou (ALA) def. Pierre Garcia (POR) 6-1, 6-1

Houndstooth Singles 
16 Antonio Selma (TROY) def. Alex Wallace (POR) 3-6, 6-3, 6-2
C Hugo Moreira (SAM) def. Alex Wallace (POR) 3-6, 6-2, 6-1
C Alex Wallace (POR) def. Nathan Fruh (S-ALA) 6-2, 6-2
C (2) Daniel Merker (S-MISS) def. Alex Wallace (POR) 4-6, 6-3, ret.

White Doubles
QF Cloes/Di Loreto (S-ALA) def. M. Garcia/Wallace (POR) 8-4
C M. Garcia/Wallace (POR) def. Gonzalez/Parton (UAB) 8-4
C Antuna/Lau (TROY) def. M. Garcia/Wallace (POR) 8-5

Houndstooth Doubles
QF (1) P. Garcia/Donat (POR) def. Uribe/Wong (LIP) 8-4
SF (1) P. Garcia/Donat (POR) def. Belcora/Selma (TROY) 8-7 (5)
F (1) P. Garcia/Donat (POR) def. Moreira/Petrovic (SAM) 8-4