Box Score DAVIS, Calif. – Portland defeated Nevada 4-0 before falling to UT Arlington by a 4-2 margin on day one of the Golden State Invitational. The Pilots move on to face either Hawaii or Saint Mary's in the tournament's third-place match on Saturday at 9:30 a.m. at the Sacramento State Tennis Courts.

The tournament is co-hosted by UC Davis and Sacramento State. The Pilots played Friday's matches at the Marya Welch Tennis Center on the UC Davis campus.

In the opening match against Nevada the Pilots swept the Wolf Pack 4-0 in a hard-fought match. Portland narrowly earned the doubles point with wins at No. 2 and No. 3 doubles. Carlos Donat and Issa Yoshida provider the clincher with a 6-4 win at No. 2.

Portland then got a pair of straight set wins from Yoshida and Leo Hibi at the No. 5 and No. 6 positions, respectively.

Sophomore Sema Pankin then clinched the match with a 6-2, 3-6, 6-0 win against Isaac Nortey at No. 2 singles. Nevada had won the opening set of the other three singles matches, but Kostya Nesterenko (No. 1), Eleftherios Neos (No. 3) and Carlos Donat (No. 4) all forced a third set in unfinished matches.

UT Arlington won a 4-3 thriller against host UC Davis in the morning match to set up the afternoon semifinal.

The Mavericks (8-3) took the doubles point with wins at the top two spots. Donat and Yoshida remained undefeated this spring together in doubles with a 6-2 win at No. 3.

Neos and Donat picked up singles wins for the Pilots, but UT Arlington won at the top three positions of the lineup to clinch the match.

"This was definitely an opportunity that got away from us," Portland head coach Aaron Gross said. "I think the big thing is we just have not had a tough, competitive match like this since we were in Texas a month ago. This is going to serve us well going forward, but a bit painful in the moment. Lefty and Carlos got over the hump and we had other opportunities that could have made this a nice win, but it didn't work out. It was a very long day for all teams involved, but good experience and a lot of court time is only going to make us better."

Portland 4, Nevada 0
Golden State Invitational First Round
Davis, Calif. (Marya Welch Tennis Center)
March 6, 2020

Singles
1. Kostya Nesterenko (POR) vs. Julien Evrard (NEV) 4-6, 7-6 (6) unfinished
2. Sema Pankin (POR) def. Isaac Nortey (NEV) 6-2, 3-6, 6-0
3. Eleftherios Neos (POR) vs. Delmas N'Tcha (NEV) 4-6, 7-6 (4) unfinished
4. Carlos Donat (POR) vs. Daniel Dudockin (NEV) 4-6, 6-3, 2-1 unfinished
5. Issa Yoshida (POR) def. Gvidas Motuzas (NEV) 7-6 (6), 6-0
6. Leo Hibi (POR) def. Benjamin Campi (NEV) 6-3, 6-2

Doubles
1. Evrard/Nortey (NEV) def. Neos/Pankin (POR) 7-5
2. Donat/Yoshida (POR) def. Motuzas/N'Tcha (NEV) 6-4
3. Hibi/Nesterenko (POR) def. Dudockin/Campi (NEV) 6-3

Match Notes:
Portland 5-1
Nevada 7-7

UT Arlington 4, Portland 2
Golden State Invitational Semifinals
Davis, Calif. (Marya Welch Tennis Center)
March 6, 2020

Singles
1. Alejandro Hayen (UTA) def. Kostya Nesterenko (POR) 7-5, 6-3
2. Miguel Cabrera (UTA) def. Sema Pankin (POR) 6-4, 7-5
3. Alan Sau Franco (UTA) def. Tom Hann (POR) 2-6, 6-4, 6-3
4. Eleftherios Neos (POR) def. Ricardo Alban (UTA) 6-3, 6-4
5. Carlos Donat (POR) def. Eduard Simo (UTA) 6-4, 6-3
6. Issa Yoshida (POR) vs. Solano Caffarena (UTA) 6-7, 5-4 unfinished

Doubles
1. Hayen/Sau Franco (UTA) def. Nesterenko/Hann (POR) 6-4
2. Simo/Caffarena (UTA) def. Neos/Pankin (POR) 6-4
3. Yoshida/Donat (POR) def. Angel Diaz/Cabrera (UTA) 6-2

Match Notes:
Portland 5-2
UT Arlington 8-3