TUALATIN, Ore. – The Portland men's tennis team posted an impressive 6-1 victory over the Princeton Tigers Thursday night in dual action at Stafford Hills Club. It marked the first loss of the season for the Tigers (2-1), while the Pilots (1-3) picked up their first victory of a rigorous early season schedule.
"We really didn't put too much focus on winning coming into tonight," Portland head coach Aaron Gross said. "We know a lot of these matches are so close that they are going to come down to a few points here and there. I am happy with how tonight went, mainly because the lessons we learned last weekend really seemed to come into play. Our focus this week in practice was just to make sure that we did not lose the same way that we lost last weekend. If the team was better than us, then that was understandable, but it is very satisfying to see the adjustments made tonight and to get the victory over very good team."
Portland jumped out early by claiming the doubles point with wins at the No. 1 and No. 3 positions. Carlos Donat and Jamie Fisher teamed up for a 6-2 win at No. 3. Princeton won at No. 2 by a 6-3 margin, but seniors Michail Pervolarakis and Alex Wallace held on for a 6-4 win at the top of the doubles lineup.
In a battle of nationally ranked singles player at the No. 1 position, No. 18 Michail Pervolarakis pulled out a comeback victory against No. 114 Ryan Seggerman by a 4-6, 6-2, 6-1 margin for the Pilots. Fellow senior Mathieu Garcia also had an impressive 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 win at No. 2 singles against Damian Rodriquez.
Pierre Garcia also pulled out a three-set win at the No. 3 spot, while Donat and freshman Tom Hann secured the other two points for the Pilots with straight set wins at the No. 5 and No. 6 positions, respectively.
"Doubles was huge for us," Gross noted. "Alex Wallace and Jamie Fisher came up big in key moments. Mike and Mathieu the both battled back after losing the first set to grab victories and Tom Hann had a decisive win at six. Carlos is starting to show the form that we are used to seeing from him and Pierre got through a very tight third set to get a win for himself."
The match was the first for the Pilots played at the prestigious Stafford Hills Club. Portland is riding a 20-match home win streak at the Louisiana Pacific Tennis Center on campus, but the Pilots received a warm welcome at the club in Tualatin.
"Though Stafford Hills is not similar conditions as our building, it felt like a home match," Gross said. "The management did an amazing job putting on the match and the members were super supportive of the Pilots. It was a really cool experience for our guys."
Portland will return home to host Portland State on Saturday at noon. Live scoring and video will be available at
PortlandPilots.com.
Portland 6, Princeton 1
Tualatin, Ore. (Stafford Hills Club)
February 1, 2018
Singles
1. #18 Michail Pervolarakis (POR) def. #114 Ryan Seggerman (PRIN) 4-6, 6-2, 6-1
2. Mathieu Garcia (POR) def. Damian Rodriquez (PRIN) 4-6, 6-3, 6-4
3. Pierre Garcia (POR) def. Luke Gamble (PRIN) 6-3, 1-6, 6-3
4. Kial Kaiser (PRIN) def. Alex Wallace (POR) 6-3, 6-4
5. Carlos Donat (POR) def. Payton Holden (PRIN) 7-6, 6-1
6. Tom Hann (POR) def. Diego Vives (PRIN) 6-3, 6-3
Doubles
1. Pervolarakis/Wallace (POR) def. Rodriguez/Gamble (PRIN) 6-4
2. Holden/Seggerman (PRIN) def. Garcia/Garcia (POR) 6-3
3. Donat/Jamie Fisher (POR) def. Vives/Jimmy Wasserman (PRIN) 6-2
