PORTLAND, Ore. – The Saint Mary's Gaels outlasted the Portland Pilots by a 4-2 margin in a tightly contested West Coast Conference women's tennis match Saturday afternoon at the Louisiana Pacific Tennis Center. The Gaels improve to 10-7 overall and 5-2 in WCC play, while the Pilots drop to 7-10 and 3-4 in league action.

It was senior day as the Pilots recognized Jelena Lazarevic and Kara Okazaki prior to the start of the match. Lazarevic came up big in winning both her doubles and singles match on the day.

She teamed with freshman Jelena Lukic to post a 6-2 win at No. 1 doubles over Jana McCord and Jacqueline Pelletier, but the Gaels pulled out the doubles point with wins at the other two positions.

After McCord defeated Lukic at No. 1 singles to give the Gaels a 2-0 lead, Portland took the momentum back. Sophomore Radina Dimitrova defeated Pelletier in straight sets at No. 2 and then Lazarevic posted a come-from-behind three set victory over Clementine Clement at the No. 3 position to tie the match.

Saint Mary's went ahead 3-2 when Parminder Kaur won in straight sets at the No. 5 position.

Kareena Manji then fought off three match points to knock off Tatiana Grigoryan in a third set tiebreaker at No. 4 singles to clinch the team victory.

Portland freshman Anna Oberg was up a set at No. 6 singles and trailing 4-3 in the second when the match was clinched.

Portland continues its busy Easter weekend by hosting Sacramento State in a non-conference match on Sunday at the St. Johns Racquet Center at 10 a.m. The Pilots will look to secure a top-6 WCC finish and berth in the WCC Championships after closing out the regular season with road matches at Pepperdine and LMU next weekend.

Saint Mary's 4, Portland 2
Portland, Ore. (Louisiana Pacific Tennis Center)
April 15, 2017

Singles
1. Jana McCord (SMC) def. LUKIC, Jelena (POR) 6-2, 6-4
2. DIMITROVA, Radina (POR) def. Jacqueline Pelletier (SMC) 7-6, 6-4
3. LAZAREVIC, Jelena (POR) def. Clementine Clement (SMC) 6-7, 6-4, 7-5
4. Kareena Manji (SMC) def. GRIGORYAN, Tatiana (POR) 5-7, 6-3, 7-6
5. Parminder Kaur (SMC) def. SOARES, Emily (POR) 6-0, 6-3
6. OBERG, Anna (POR) vs. Vanessa Nommensen (SMC) 6-3, 3-4, unfinished

Doubles
1. LUKIC, Jelena/LAZAREVIC, Jelena (POR) def. Jacqueline Pelletier/Jana McCord (SMC) 6-2
2. Clementine Clement/Emma Critser (SMC) def. DIMITROVA, Radina/GRIGORYAN, Tatiana (POR) 6-4
3. Parminder Kaur/Kareena Manji (SMC) def. OBERG, Anna/SOARES, Emily (POR) 6-2

Match Notes:
Saint Mary's 10-7, 5-2 WCC
Portland 7-10, 3-4 WCC
Order of finish: Doubles (3,1,2); Singles (1,2,3,5,4)