Box Score PORTLAND, Ore. – In their final nonconference matchup of the season, the Portland Pilots men's tennis team took down the Montana Grizzlies 5-2. The win improves their record to 6-2 on the season.
Portland took the doubles point with wins in the No. 1 and No. 2 doubles matchup. Sema Pankin and Nikolas Tvedt clinched the doubles point in exciting fashion, being pushed to an extra game by Oisin Shaffrey and Pontus Hallgren. Tvedt hit a volley that was too much to return, and the Pilots had the first point.
"Montana brought a lot of energy to the doubles and we weathered the storm to get that," Pilots head coach Aaron Gross said.
The Pilots expanded their lead in the first three singles matches with wins in the No. 1 and No. 3 slot. Pankin split two tight sets with Ed Pudney before routing Pudney in the third set 6-1 to give the Pilots a 3-1 lead. The singles win marked Pankin's fifth of the season.
Tvedt scored the clinching point for the Pilots in the No. 5 singles match. Tvedt handily defeated Guillermo Martin in straight sets 6-2 and 6-1 to earn his fifth win of the season and the Pilots the team win. Nicklas Oberg and Leo Hibi finished the dual match off with a win and a loss respectively in the No. 4 and No. 6 slots.
"The first round of singles was very competitive," Gross said. "Issa did a great job of pushing the momentum further for us. And then Nick Tvedt came in and really lit it up to help us clinch."
Next up, the Pilots will open WCC play with a home match against the San Diego Toreros on Thursday, March 25. That match will begin at 10 a.m. with live stats and video available at PortlandPilots.com.
"We have a very strong string of matches coming up that we are looking forward to," Gross said. "We don't have a lot of margin for error against some of these programs that have all their players back. But I know our guys gonna fight and that counts for a lot."
Singles
- Sema Pankin (UP) def. Ed Pudney (UM) 7-5, 6-7 (5), 6-1
- Oisin Shaffrey (UM) def. Eleftherios Neos (UP) 6-2, 7-6 (2)
- Issa Yoshida (UP) def. Milo Benn (UM) 6-3, 6-2
- Nick Oberg (UP) vs. Chase Bartlett (UM) 6-3, 7-6 (2)
- Nikolas Tvedt (UP) def. Guillermo Martin (UM) 6-2, 6-1
- Moritz Stoeger (UM) def. Leo Hibi (UP) 7-5, 6-3, 13-11
Doubles
- Neos/Yoshida (UP) def. Pudney/Benn (UM) 6-3
- Pankin/Tvedt (UP) def. Shaffrey/Hallgreen (UM) 7-5
- Bartlett/Stoeger (UM) def. Oberg/Hibi (UP) 6-4
Order of Finish: (Singles: 3,2,1,5,4,6; Doubles: 1,3,2)
