CLAREMONT, Calif. – Top-seeded and No. 41-ranked San Diego held on for a 4-2 win against the Portland Pilots in a West Coast Conference Championships semifinal matchup on Friday at the Biszantz Family Tennis Center. The Toreros advance and will meet No. 3 seeded Loyola Marymount in Saturday's championship match.
Portland, the tournament's No. 4 seed, reached the semifinals for the third straight season after beating Santa Clara by a 4-1 margin on Thursday.
Friday's match was close from start-to-finish with multiple swings of momentum throughout the marathon battle.
"These types of matches are usually decided by a few key moments," Portland head coach Aaron Gross said. "The match was incredibly close, and we actually played very good doubles to get a jump. There was just a couple of points in a few matches that really would have swung the difference in our favor. I feel like we are two very evenly matched teams, but they were just a bit better today. It's too bad it ended today. I feel like we were probably the two best teams in the tournament, but I know LMU will have something to say about that tomorrow."
Portland struck the first blow by claiming the team doubles point. San Diego won easily at No. 3 doubles, but seniors Mathieu and Pierre Garcia evened the score with a 6-2 win at the No. 2 spot for the Pilots. Senior Michail Pervolarakis and freshman Tom Hann then clinched the point with a 6-4 win at the top of the lineup.
The Toreros bounced back to win in straight sets at the No. 5 and No. 6 positions for a 2-1 lead.
Pierre Garcia evened the score with an impressive three set victory against Nico Borter at No. 3. He posted scored of 6-2, 1-6, 6-2.
"Pierre finished his career with an incredible effort," Gross noted. "The doubles win from him and Mathieu was enormous and then he showed the fighter that he is in singles."
In a battle of two nationally-ranked singles players at the top of the lineup, WCC Freshman of the Year August Holgrem (#75) defeated WCC Player of the Year Michail Pervolarakis (#56) by a 6-3, 3-6, 7-5 margin.
Joel Gamerov provided the clinching point for the Toreros with a hard-fought three set win against Pilot junior Carlos Donat at No. 4 singles.
No. 2 singles was unfinished as Mathieu Garcia overcame a first set tiebreak loss to force a third set. He and Gui Osorio were on serve when the overall match was clinched.
"There was a lot of things off the court this year that we were battling," Gross noted. "I feel we did a great job in never playing the victim in any of it. We fought hard every time we went on the court."
Portland's senior class finishes off an impressive four-year run that featured the Pilots earning multiple national rankings, three WCC Tournament semifinals appearances, and the program's first WCC regular season title in 2017.
Pervolarakis, the two-time WCC Player of the Year, will now wait to see if he receives a bid to compete at the NCAA Men's Tennis Singles Championships next month.
UPDATE: Pervolarakis and Hann were named to the All-WCC Tournament Team for No. 1 doubles, while Pierre Garcia was All-WCC Tournament at No. 3 singles.
#41 San Diego 4, Portland 2
Claremont, Calif. (Biszantz Family Tennis Center)
April 27, 2018
Singles
1. #75 August Holmgren (USD) def. #56 Michail Pervolarakis (POR) 6-3, 3-6, 7-5
2. Gui Osorio (USD) vs. Mathieu Garcia (POR) 7-6 (3), 4-6, 3-2, unfinished
3. Pierre Garcia (POR) def. Nico Borter (USD) 6-2, 1-6, 6-2
4. Joel Gamerov (USD) def. Carlos Donat (POR) 6-3, 5-7, 6-3
5. David Norfeldt (USD) def. Alex Wallace (POR) 6-4, 6-3
6. Alex Araouzos (USD) def. Tom Hann (POR) 7-6 (5), 6-4
Doubles
1. Pervolarakis/Hann (POR) def. Holmgren/Gamerov (USD) 6-4
2. Garcia/Garcia (POR) def. Osorio/Borter (USD) 6-1
3. Araouzos/Norfeldt (USD) def. Donat/Jamie Fisher (POR) 6-1
Match Notes
Portland 12-9
San Diego 15-7; National Ranking #41
WCC Championships Semifinals
Order of Finish: Doubles (3,2,1), Singles (5,6,3,1,4)
