PORTLAND, Ore. – The Portland men's tennis team continued its winning ways with a 4-1 victory over the BYU Cougars on Friday at the Louisiana Pacific Tennis Center. The Pilots have won nine straight and improved to 13-1 overall and 3-0 in West Coast Conference play, while the Cougars drop to 11-9 and 4-1 in league action. Portland extended its home winning streak to 17 matches.
"Today was a big match as both teams entered undefeated in conference play," Portland head coach Aaron Gross said. "BYU fights very hard and we knew they weren't going to give us anything. They definitely enjoyed the benefits of the home-court advantage in our match last year and I know that was in the back of our minds for sure."
Portland secured the doubles point after the No. 1 duo of Michail Pervolarakis and Mathieu Garcia cruised to a 6-0 win and then Jamie Fisher and Carlos Donat clinched at No. 3 by a 6-3 margin.
"I was really happy to see Jamie Fisher bounce back from last weekend and play a very good doubles match to help us get the doubles point," Gross noted.
Pervolarakis set the tone in singles play with a 6-3, 6-4 win at the top of the lineup over Keaton Cullimore. He improved to 13-1 in dual matches this spring and has won nine in a row.
BYU pulled a point back as Jacob Sullivan won a three-setter against Mathieu Garcia at No. 2, but then Pierre Garcia beat Matthew Pearce 7-6, 7-5 at No. 3 for a 3-1 team lead.
Donat clinched the match with a 6-1, 6-4 victory at No. 5 singles, his fifth straight victory.
"Mike had another nice win against a legitimate number one senior player from BYU and Pierre had probably the key win of the day in an extremely tight straight set win," Gross said. "Carlos is just such a tough competitor for us at the lower part of the lineup. He and Felix have just been so solid. We can't count on them to win every single time, but we can count on them to compete really well."
Portland's Alex Wallace was trailing John Pierce 4-1 in the third set at No. 4 and Felix Fan was leading 6-5 in the first at No. 6 when the match was decided.
"At this point in the season with everyone starting to feel a little bit tired it is the time to remind ourselves that this is what we look forward to all year long," Gross said. "We can't let fatigue get in the way of the enjoyment and excitement of the competition at this time of year. We will re-commit to that tomorrow and come out ready to go."
The Pilots will host No. 49 San Diego on Saturday at 3 p.m. The Toreros play at Gonzaga on Friday afternoon before heading to Portland. The match will be streamed live on PortlandPilots.com with live scoring as well.
Portland 4, BYU 1
Portland, Ore. (Louisiana Pacific Tennis Center)
March 31, 2017
Singles
1. #114 Michail Pervolarakis (POR) def. Keaton Cullimore (BYU) 6-3, 6-4
2. Jacob Sullivan (BYU) def. Mathieu Garcia (POR) 6-2, 3-6, 6-1
3. Pierre Garcia (POR) def. Matthew Pearce (BYU) 7-6 (4), 7-5
4. Alex Wallace (POR) vs. John Pearce (BYU) 2-6, 7-5, 1-4 unfinished
5. Carlos Donat (POR) def. Aidan Carrazedo (BYU) 6-1, 6-4
6. Felix Fan (POR) vs. Sam Tullis (BYU) 6-5 unfinished
Doubles
1. Pervolarakis/M. Garcia (POR) def. Cullimore/J. Pearce (BYU) 6-0
2. P. Garcia/Fan (POR) vs. Sullivan/Carrazedo (BYU) 3-5
3. Donat/Jamie Fisher (POR) def. M. Pearce/Tullis (BYU) 6-3
Match Notes:
Portland 13-1, 3-0 WCC
BYU 11-9, 4-1 WCC
Order of Finish: Doubles (1,3), Singles (1,2,3,5)
