Box Score PORTLAND, Ore. – The Portland men's tennis team defeated the Idaho Vandals by a 5-2 margin Saturday afternoon at the Louisiana Pacific Tennis Center. The Pilots improve to 2-5 on the season, while the Vandals drop to 2-4 overall.
Despite a number of players battling illness, the team's lone senior and No. 1 player sidelined due to injury, and running out a lineup of five freshmen and a sophomore, the Pilots were able to overcome a slow start and pull out the victory.
Idaho claimed the doubles point in dramatic fashion. The clincher came at No. 1 singles where Carlos Longhi Neto and Lucas Couthino outlasted sophomore Tom Hann and freshman Eleftherios Neos 14-12 in a tiebreaker.
That momentum led to a strong singles start for Idaho with Neto and Valentin Popescu jumping out to first set leads at the No. 1 and No. 3 positions, respectively. Pilot freshman Sema Pankin came back to defeat Neto in three sets at the top of the lineup, and freshman Nicklas Oberg also recorded a three-set comeback at No. 3 against Popescu in the match clincher.
Hann also beat Estaban Santibanez 6-0 in his third set at No. 2 singles previously.
Neos cruised in straight sets at No. 4 singles over Bruno Casino.
"I don't think we played our best today," Portland head coach Aaron Gross said. "Losing the doubles point and then the first set in two-out-of-the-first-three singles matches put us in a pretty precarious situation. After that we competed very well. I would never use it as an excuse if we had lost, but we have been crushed by the flu lately. Seeing us fight hard through that in one of the longest matches in the building in a long time was a good sign."
Freshman Arjun Mariyappa made his dual debut and performed well. He teamed with Sema Pankin for a win at No. 3 doubles and then posted a straight sets win at No. 6 singles against Peter Shin.
"It was a great day for Arjun," Gross noted. "His first dual match ever and got a win in doubles and singles, so that was great to see."
Coutinho won the lone singles match for Idaho in straight sets at the No. 5 position.
Portland will return to the Louisiana Pacific Tennis Center on Friday to host Montana State at 9 a.m. The match will have live video and point-by-point scoring available at PortlandPilots.com.
Portland 5, Idaho 2
Portland, Ore. (Louisiana Pacific Tennis Center)
February 16, 2019
Singles
1. Sema Pankin (POR) def. Carlos Longhi Neto (UI) 1-6, 6-3, 6-2
2. Tom Hann (POR) def. Estaban Santibanez (UI) 7-6 (10-8), 4-6, 6-0
3. Nicklas Oberg (POR) def. Valentin Popescu (UI) 6-7 (6-8), 6-4, 6-4
4. Eleftherios Neos (POR) def. Bruno Casino (UI) 6-1, 6-0
5. Lucas Coutinho (UI) def. Issa Yoshida (POR) 6-3, 6-3
6. Arjun Mariyappa (POR) def. Peter Shin (UI) 6-3, 7-6 (7-4)
Doubles
1. Carlos Longhi Neto/Lucas Coutinho (UI) def. Tom Hann/Eleftherios Neos (POR) 7-6 (14-12)
2. Estaban Santibanez/Valentin Popescu (UI) def. Nicklas Oberg/Issa Yoshida (POR) 6-0
3. Sema Pankin/Arjun Mariyappa (POR) def. Bruno Casino/Peter Shin (UI) 7-5
Match Notes:
Idaho 2-4
Portland 2-5
Order of finish: Doubles (2,3,1); Singles (1,2,3,4,5,6)
