Box Score PORTLAND, Ore. – The Portland men's tennis team cruised to a 7-0 sweep of Southern Utah on Saturday in a non-conference dual match at the Louisiana Pacific Tennis Center. The Pilots improve to 4-1 on the season, while the Thunderbirds drop to 3-5 overall.

Portland secured the doubles point with comfortable wins at the No. 2 and No. 3 positions. Carlos Donat and Issa Yoshida teamed up for the first time and won 6-1 at the No. 2 slot. Kostya Nesterenko partnered with Leo Hibi for a 6-0 win at No. 3.

The Pilots carried the momentum into singles as Nesterenko defeated RJ Parker 6-0, 6-1 at the top of the lineup. Eleftherios Neos was a 6-1, 6-2 winner over Nolan McCaig at No. 3 and then Sema Pankin came back to beat Juan Erro in three sets at No. 2 to clinch the team victory.

Donat, Yoshida and Hibi then each won in straight sets at the bottom of the lineup to secure the sweep.

"I thought we kept our level really high today," Portland head coach Aaron Gross said. "I wasn't sure what to expect after a long layoff. I thought we would be a little bit nervous, but I feel like we got over that quickly and were very decisive and doubles and singles. Kostya lost only one game in the three sets that he played today. He has been doing a great job in practice, as have all our guys. The road is going to get tougher with better competition coming up, but today was a really good sign of concentration and focus in a situation where it's not always easy to keep your level high."

Portland will next compete at the Golden State Invite hosted by UC Davis at the Marya Welch Tennis Center March 6-7.

Portland 7, Southern Utah 0
Portland, Ore. (Louisiana Pacific Tennis Center)
Feb. 29, 2020

Singles
1. Kostya Nesterenko (POR) def. RJ Parker (SUU) 6-0, 6-1
2. Sema Pankin (POR) def. Juan Erro (SUU) 2-6, 6-0, 6-2
3. Eleftherios Neos (POR) def. Nolan McCaig (SUU) 6-1, 6-2
4. Carlos Donat (POR) def. Jose Ortega (SUU) 6-1, 6-2
5. Issa Yoshida (POR) def. Jake Williams (SUU) 6-1, 6-0
6. Leo Hibi (POR) def. Conor Tordoff (SUU) 6-2, 6-1

Doubles
1. Neos/Pankin (POR) vs. Erro/Tordoff (SUU) 4-3 unfinished
2. Donat/Yoshida (POR) def. McCaig/Williams (SUU) 6-1
3. Nesterenko/Hibi (POR) def. Parker/Ortega (SUU) 6-0

Match Notes:
Portland 4-1
Southern Utah 3-5
Order of Finish (Singles 1,3,2,4,5,6; Doubles 3,2)