Box Score SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. – Portland pulled out a 4-2 victory over the San Francisco Dons Saturday afternoon in a West Coast Conference dual match at The Olympic Club. The Pilots improve to 6-10 overall and 1-3 in WCC play, while the Dons fall to 3-11 and 0-5 in league.

"I know we have had bigger wins in the last few years, but today feels as good as any of those," Portland head coach Aaron Gross said. "That is a big conference road win considering the struggles we have been having with health up to this point."

Portland took the doubles point with wins at the top two positions, while tied 6-6 at the No. 3 spot. The No. 1 tandem of freshmen Sema Pankin and Eleftherios Neos won by a 6-3 margin, while sophomore Tom Hann and freshman Nicklas Oberg closed out a tiebreaker at No. 2.

Hann and Neos then each won in straight sets in the singles lineup. Hann cruised to a 6-3, 6-2 win at No. 3 singles over Nitzan Ricklis, while Neos was clutch with a pair of tiebreaker wins against Phuc Huynh at the No. 4 spot.

Freshman Leo Hibi then provided the clinching point with a three set win against Romeo Midtgaard Jivraj. Hibi won by a score of 6-3, 2-6, 6-4 to secure the victory. Pankin was trailing 4-3 in the third set at No. 1 singles at the time of the clinch.

"Tom jumped back in today after being out for a couple of weeks and was pretty much the key to victory," Gross said. "He and Nick had the clinching doubles win and Tom had a convincing singles victory. Lefty didn't play great, but got the job done. Leo then came from behind in the third set to clinch the match. We are all very excited to get this win and validate all of the hard work."

Portland will return home for a pair of WCC matches next week at the Louisiana Pacific Tennis Center. The Pilots host Loyola Marymount on Friday at 10 a.m. and then Pepperdine on Saturday at 11 a.m. All home matches have live video and scoring available at PortlandPilots.com.

Portland, San Francisco
San Francisco, Calif. (The Olympic Club)
March 30, 2019

Singles
1. Sema Pankin (POR) vs. Ryan Marker (USF) 7-6, 2-6, 3-4 unfinished
2. Paul Giraud (USF) def. Nicklas Oberg (POR) 6-3, 6-2
3. Tom Hann (POR) def. Nitzan Ricklis (USF) 6-3, 6-3
4. Eleftherios Neos (POR) def. Phuc Huynh (USF) 7-6, 7-6
5. Oz Daniel (USF) def. Issa Yoshida (POR) 6-1, 6-3
6. Leo Hibi (POR) def. Romeo Midtgaard Jivraj (USF) 6-3, 2-6, 6-4

Doubles
1. Neos/Pankin (POR) def. Giraud/Daniel (USF) 6-3
2. Hann/Oberg (POR) def. Marker/Huynh (USF) 7-6
3. Hibi/Yoshida (POR) vs. Ricklis/Midtgaard Jivraj (USF) 6-6, unfinished

Match Notes:
Portland 6-10, 1-3 WCC
San Francisco 3-11, 0-5 WCC