Box Score PORTLAND, Ore. – The No. 31-ranked BYU Cougars posted a 7-0 sweep of Portland in West Coast Conference men's tennis action Saturday afternoon at the Louisiana Pacific Tennis Center. BYU improves to 15-3 overall and 4-1 in WCC play, while the Pilots drop to 5-9 and 0-2 in the league.

Portland, playing with six true freshmen due to various injuries, were outmanned against an experienced BYU lineup featuring four upperclassmen.

"We had some really nice competitive moments where it seemed like things could shift our direction, but we couldn't get over the hump," Portland head coach Aaron Gross said. "It's a tricky balance holding a group of freshmen accountable, but if we are going to be a special group at some point we cannot be satisfied with good scores. It's totally understandable that our team would struggle without two of our top players, but ideally you're looking at it as an opportunity for the next man to step up. These guys are getting some invaluable experience right now. It's just super important that we don't try and take moral victories from close matches. I think we appreciate seeing improvement in certain areas that we have been working on, but we can't settle for just hanging around in matches where we have chances to win."

The Cougars set the tone with a comfortable wins at No. 2 and No. 3 doubles to secure the opening point. Portland's No. 1 doubles team of Sema Pankin and Eleftherios Neos were tied with the No. 44-ranked doubles team in the nation at 4-4 when the point was clinched, rendering the match unfinished.

BYU controlled singles and posted straight set wins at all six positions. Pankin pushed nationally-ranked Sean Hill to a first set tiebreaker at No. 1, but came up short.

Nicklas Oberg was down a set and trailing 5-1 in the second to senior Jeffrey Hsu. He battled back to force a tiebreaker, but Hsu pulled it out. Issa Yoshida also took junior Sam Tullis to a second set tiebreaker in the final match on the courts, but Tullis won 7-3 to finish the scoring.

Portland will continue WCC play on the road next week. The Pilots visit Santa Clara on Friday at 11 a.m. and then San Francisco on Saturday at 1 p.m.

#31 BYU 7, Portland 0
Portland, Ore. (Louisiana Pacific Tennis Center)
March 23, 2019

Singles
1. #123 Sean Hill (BYU) def. Sema Pankin (POR) 7-6 (4), 6-1
2. Jeffrey Hsu (BYU) def. Nicklas Oberg (POR) 6-2, 7-6 (2)
3. Mateo Vereau (BYU) def. Eleftherios Neos (POR) 7-5, 7-5
4. Sam Tullis (BYU) def. Issa Yoshida (POR) 6-3, 7-6 (3)
5. Ben Gajardo (BYU) def. Leo Hibi (POR) 6-2, 6-3
6. Matthew Pearce (BYU) def. Arjun Mariyappa (POR) 6-2, 6-0

Doubles
1. Neos/Pankin (POR) vs. #44 Hill/Hsu (BYU) 4-4, unfinished
2. Tullis/ Gajardo (BYU) def. Oberg/Mariyappa (POR) 6-1
3. Vereau/Pearce (BYU) def. Hibi/Yoshida (POR) 6-2

Match Notes:
BYU 15-3, 4-1 WCC; National ranking #31
Portland 5-9, 0-2 WCC
Order of finish: Doubles (2,3); Singles (3,2,1,5,6,4)