EUGENE, Ore. – The Portland Pilots men's tennis team will travel to Eugene, Ore. this weekend to play a neutral site dual match against the Cal Poly Mustangs. The two teams will face off on Saturday, March 6 with matches beginning at 1 p.m.

The Pilots return seven players from last year's squad, including several players that featured heavily in matches last year before the COVID-19 pandemic cut the season short. The lineup consists of almost entirely juniors except for freshman Nikolas Tvedt, who has manned the No. 5 singles spot for the Pilots the first four matches. Sema Pankin and Eleftherios Neos, two of the top three singles players on the team last season, occupy the No. 1 and No. 2 singles spots.

Portland was picked to finish seventh in the annual WCC Men's Tennis Preseason Poll. They did not have any players selected to the 2020-21 All-WCC Preseason Men's Tennis Team. They are off to a strong start at 3-1, including sweeps against the Eastern Washington Eagles and the Seattle University Redhawks. In both of those dual matches, the Pilots did not drop a single set in either singles or doubles.

The Cal Poly Mustangs are 4-4 to start their season, including a 2-3 record against WCC opponents. Three of those five opponents – Pepperdine, San Diego and Loyola Marymount – were picked to finish in the top four of the WCC in the preseason. They went 0-3 against those three teams. Their WCC wins came against the Saint Mary's Gaels and the Santa Clara Broncos. They took down the Gaels 4-2 on Feb. 11 and the Broncos 5-2 on Feb. 27, which was their most recent match played. They will play the Oregon Ducks before their match against the Pilots.

After this, the Pilots will travel to the Nordstrom Tennis Center in Seattle, Wash. to take on the Washington Huskies. That match is set for a 5 p.m. start.