PORTLAND, Ore. – The No. 33 Minnesota Golden Gophers outlasted the Portland Pilots in an intense and hard-fought non-conference men's tennis match Sunday morning at the Louisiana Pacific Tennis Center. Minnesota snapped Portland's 24-match home win streak to improve to 8-3 overall, while the Pilots fell to 6-6 overall with all six losses coming against teams ranked in this week's ITA Top 50.
It was a back-and-forth match from the outset as momentum shifted with each match. Portland secured the doubles point, but the Gophers won the top three singles matches to go ahead 3-1. The bottom of Portland's lineup then came up with a pair of huge wins as Carlos Donat and Alex Wallace tied the match with wins at the No. 4 and No. 5 positions.
The deciding match came down to the No. 6 spot as Pilot freshman Tom Hann and Minnesota junior Josip Krstanovic battled. Krstanovic took the first set 6-2, but Hann sent it to a third set with a 6-4 win in the second. Hann jumped out to a 4-1 lead, but Krstanovic played lights out to win the final five games and clinch it for Minnesota.
The Gophers won at No. 1 doubles as the No. 58 ranked duo of Felix Corwin and Matic Spec won by a 6-2 margin. The Pilots evened the doubles scoring as Carlos Donat and Jamie Fisher won 6-4 at No. 3. Portland seniors Mathieu and Pierre Garcia then came back from being down an early break at No. 2 to force a tiebreaker and pulled it out to give Portland the 1-0 lead.
Corwin, Spec and No. 45-ranked Stefan Milicevic each won in straight sets for the Gophers in the top three lineup positions, respectively. Portland senior Michail Pervolarakis, ranked No. 36 nationally, suffered his first dual loss this spring at No. 1 singles.
Donat then defeated Eli Ogilvy 6-4, 7-5 and Wallace knocked off Jackson Allen 7-5, 6-1 to set up the match-deciding battle at No. 6.
"That was a pretty gutting loss," Portland head coach Aaron Gross said. "We did a great job getting the doubles point and I feel like our top three singles are the best in our conference, but Minnesota probably has one of the best top three's in the country. Mike is still not 100 percent, but they just flat out played really well.
"Alex Wallace was a beast today and Carlos Donat was his usual solid level. Tom Hann was on the verge of doing something almost no college freshman does and that is clinch the third set of a deciding match. He was up 4-1 in the third, but I do not think his opponent missed at that point for the rest of the match. He had a great effort. It is hard to take right now, but there is a bit of satisfaction in knowing the No. 33 team in the country celebrated the win as if they won the national championship. The program has come a long ways."
Portland will take a three-week break before returning to West Coast Conference play with a tough road match at No. 36 San Diego on Sunday, March 25 at 1 p.m.
#33 Minnesota 4, Portland 3
Portland, Ore. (Louisiana Pacific Tennis Center)
March 4, 2018
Singles
1. Felix Corwin (MINN) def. Michail Pervolarakis (POR) 6-4, 6-3
2. Matic Spec (MINN) def. Mathieu Garcia (POR) 7-6 (3), 6-0
3. #45 Stefan Milicevic (MINN) def. Pierre Garcia (POR) 6-4, 6-4
4. Carlos Donat (POR) def. Eli Ogilvy (MINN) 6-4, 6-2
5. Alex Wallace (POR) def. Jackson Allen (MINN) 7-5, 6-1
6. Josip Krstanovic (MINN) def. Tom Hann (POR) 6-2, 4-6, 6-4
Doubles
1. #58 Corwin/Spec (MINN) def. Pervolarakis/Wallace (POR) 6-2
2. Garcia/Garcia (POR) def. Krstanovic/Levin (MINN) 7-6 (4)
3. Donat/Jamie Fisher (POR) def. Lobak/Ogilvy (MINN) 6-4
Match Notes:
Portland 6-6
Minnesota 8-3; National Ranking #33
Order of Finish: Doubles (1,3,2), Singles (2,1,3,5,4,6)
