Box Score SPOKANE, Wash. – In their first win over a ranked opponent this season, the Portland Pilots took down the No. 62 Gonzaga Bulldogs 5-2 to improve to 2-0 in WCC play and 8-2 overall.
"Today was 'No excuse' Saturday," Portland head coach Aaron Gross said. "Win or lose, we were going to put our heads down and grind. If we were standing in the end, then great. And we ended up standing."
The Pilots took the first point with two wins in the doubles matches. After dropping the No. 3 doubles match and winning the No. 2 match, it came down to Eleftherios Neos and Issa Yoshida in the No. 1 slot. After being pushed to a tiebreaker, the duo finished strong and took the set 7-6, earning the point.
The singles matches were all close matchups, with four of the six matches going to three sets. Nikolas Tvedt earned his seventh win of the year in the No. 5 slot and Sema Pankin secured his sixth of the season with a win in the No. 1 slot.
"Doubles was huge," Gross said. "And Sema bounced back well from Thursday's loss."
The clinching point came in the No. 2 match. After losing the first set 6-3, Neos won the second 6-4 to force a final set. The set ended up going into a tiebreaker, one where Neos came out on top. He won the tiebreaker 7-5 to get Portland the win. Leo Hibi took the win in the No. 6 slot soon after.
"Our final three victories all came after we lost the first set," Gross noted. "Crazy heart and composure today. Lefty (Neos) and (Leo) Hibi clinched simultaneously. Road victories are always special and even more so when we have to battle through so much. Really proud of our group today."
Next up, the Pilots will continue WCC play with a home match against the BYU Cougars. That match will take place on Thursday, Apr. 1 at 11 a.m. Live stats and video will be available at PortlandPilots.com
Portland 5, Gonzaga 2
Spokane, Wash. (Stevens Tennis Center)
Mar. 27, 2021
Singles
- Sema Pankin (UP) def. Sasha Trkulja (GU) 7-5, 6-2
- Eleftherios Neos (UP) vs. Leon Roider (GU) 3-6, 6-4, 7-6 (5)
- Pablo Gomez Galvan (GU) def. Issa Yoshida (UP) 6-4, 2-6, 6-3
- Hunter Egger (GU) def. Nicklas Oberg (UP) 6-4, 6-3
- Nikolas Tvedt (UP) def. Theo McDonald (GU) 6-2, 3-6, 6-2
- Leo Hibi (UP) def. Matthew Perkins (GU) 3-6, 7-6, 6-3
Doubles
- Neos/Yoshida (UP) def. McDonald/Gomez Galvan (GU) 7-6
- Pankin/Tvedt (UP) def. Trkulja/Roider (GU) 6-4
- Egger/Perkins (GU) def. Oberg/Hibi (UP) 6-2
Order of Finish: (Singles: 4,1,5,3,2,6; Doubles: 3,2,1)
