The Portland men's tennis team split up this weekend with four players heading to the Southern California Intercollegiate Championships in Los Angeles and three others competing at the Gonzaga Invitational in Spokane, Wash.

The Pilots had strong performances at both events with Sema Pankin and Issa Yoshida each picking up two singles wins to reach the Southern California Intercollegiate quarterfinals. Pankin and Eleftherios Neos also earned a doubles victory at the event.

Freshmen Julien Penzlin and Oscar Brown advanced in their respective singles draws at the Gonzaga Invitational, while Penzlin and Nikolas Tvedt won two doubles matches on Friday.

"We had a very good day in Los Angeles," Portland head coach Aaron Gross said. "Lefty and Sema knocked out a solid USC team in the first round of doubles and Issa and Sema both advanced to the quarterfinals in singles. We are kind of used to Sema taking care of business and Issa did a great job today. He had a gutsy win over a very good player from UCLA in the morning and then came back this afternoon and got a straight set victory. They both have tough quarterfinal matches tomorrow after a long day today, but are each in good form.

"The boys in Spokane took care of business for the most part. Julien and Oscar both advanced to the second round of singles. This is our third weekend in a row of tournaments and we are definitely match tough at this point. The key as the weekend goes along is trying to stay solid mentally through the highs and the lows. I think we did a good job of that today."

Both events continue with Saturday action. Video and scoring for the Southern California Intercollegiate Championships can be found here, while Gonzaga Invitational live coverage is here.


Gonzaga Invitational
Spokane, Wash. (Stevens Center)
Oct. 29-31, 2021

Singles Blue Draw
16 Julien Penzlin (POR) def. Jan Lucca Marquardt (BSU) 6-4, 6-2
16 Kyryll Kryvchun (BSU) def. Nikolas Tvedt (POR) 7-5, 6-4
QF Penzlin (POR) vs. Oliver Andersson (GON) Saturday
C Tvedt (POR) vs. Nejc Sitar (MSU) Saturday

Singles White Draw
16 Oscar Brown (POR) def. Jeremy Mueller (EWU) 6-2, 3-6, 6-3
QF Brown (POR) vs. Matteo Masala (UI) Saturday

Doubles Blue Draw
QF Penzlin/Tvedt (POR) def. Moortgat/Marquardt (BSU) 8-6
SF Penzlin/Tvedt (POR) def. Gomez Galvan/ Hann (GON) 8-5
F Penzlin/Tvedt (POR) vs. Minakata/Kryvchun (BSU)

Doubles White Draw
SF Brown/de la Bassetiere (POR/GON) def. Mueller/Sarlvik (EWU) 8-6
F Brown/de la Bassetiere (POR/GON) vs. TBA

64th Annual Southern California Intercollegiate Championships
Los Angeles, Calif. (David X. Marks Tennis Stadium)
Oct. 28-31, 2021

Singles
Q Leo Hibi (POR) def. Jan Simon (CUI) 6-1, 7-5
32 (1) Sema Pankin (POR) def. Tomas Gomez (BIOLA) 6-2, 6-1
32 Issa Yoshida (POR) def. (3) Eric Hahn (UCLA) 6-1, 4-6, 6-3
32 Hibi (POR) vs. John Zisette (SMU) def. 6-4, 6-7 (4), 6-2
32 Jeffrey Fradkin (UCLA) def. Eleftherios Neos (POR) 6-3, 6-0
16 (1) Pankin (POR) def. Leyton Bohren (APU) 6-3, 6-0
16 Yoshida (POR) def. Yassine Smiej (CUI) 6-4, 6-2
16 (6) Stefan Leustian (UCLA) def. Hibi (POR) 6-4, 6-2
QF (1) Pankin (POR) vs. (5) Phillip Jordan (UCSB) Saturday, Noon
QF Yoshida (POR) vs. TBA, Saturday

Doubles
Q Yoshida/Hibi (POR) def. Hess/Sanseverino (CHAP) 8-4
16 Neos/Pankin (POR) def. Jackson/Barretto (USC) 8-6
16 (1) Allen/Steinhausen (SMU) def. Yoshida/Hibi (POR) 8-5
QF Neos/Pankin (POR) vs. (2) Davies/Norfeldt (USD) Saturday, 10 AM