PORTLAND, Ore. – A breakout 2017 season for the Portland men's tennis team has catapulted the program into some high-profile events for the upcoming season. Reigning West Coast Conference Player of the Year, Michail Pervolarakis, will represent the WCC at the Oracle/ITA Masters in September. Portland will also be one of 60 teams nationally to participate in the 2018 ITA Kick-Off Weekend.

"We had an amazing season in 2017 and are still reaping some of the rewards from our success going into next season," Portland head coach Aaron Gross said. "One of the results of Mike being named conference Player of the Year was him qualifying for the Oracle/ITA Masters tournament in Malibu this September. It is a very prestigious event and a great opportunity for Mike to get some wins that could propel him to the NCAA Tournament in 2018."

The Oracle/ITA Masters will be held September 21-24 in Malibu, Calif. at Pepperdine University and the Malibu Racquet Club. The tournament will feature the returning Player of the Year (or other, as determined by the selection criteria) from each Division I athletic conference, with one additional wild card spot.

The tournament will consist of a double elimination 32-player men's singles draw and a double elimination 32-player women's singles draw, along with a single elimination 32-team mixed doubles draw. Each mixed doubles team will be comprised of the men's player and the women's player from each conference, with wild card players paired together or with conference players who do not have a counterpart.
 
"We are also going to be included in the ITA Kick-Off Weekend for the very first time in school history," Gross added. "We chose to go to Wake Forest as our site and will have a very good early-season match against a strong SEC opponent in Vanderbilt. Should we win that match, we would likely play Wake Forest in the regional final. There's a decent chance that Wake Forest will be the preseason No. 1 team in the nation going into 2018, so that would be an incredible experience."

The ITA Kick-Off Weekend features the top ranked team's from the previous year's rankings. A total of 15 host sites will feature four teams each over the weekend of Jan. 26-28, with each site winner advancing to the ITA National Team Indoor Championships to be held at the University of Washington on Feb. 16-19, 2018.

Portland will take on Vanderbilt on Friday, Jan. 26 at 2 p.m. (ET) followed by Wake Forest versus Old Dominion. The winners will meet in Saturday's regional title match to be played at 5 p.m. (ET).

Wake Forest finished the 2017 season ranked No. 2 nationally and reached the NCAA Quarterfinals. Vanderbilt finished at No. 46 and Old Dominion was just outside the Top 50.

The Pilots return nearly everyone from a 2017 squad that finished with an 18-3 overall record, won the first WCC title in program history, and finished the season ranked No. 48 nationally. Gross earned both WCC and ITA Regional Coach of the Year honors and will add two freshmen to next year's roster in Tom Hann and Drew Davison.