EUGENE, Ore. – The Portland Pilots took advantage of a shorthanded Eastern Washington squad in a 6-1 women's tennis victory Saturday afternoon at the Student Tennis Center on the University of Oregon campus.

The Pilots were spotted leads in both doubles and singles as the Eagles (1-5) were down to just four active players. Portland claimed the doubles point after Sally Pethybridge and Rimona Rouf won at No. 2 by a 6-3 margin.

"This is always a tricky situation as the pressure was solely on our team today," Portland coach Filip Zivkovic said. "It took us a bit of time to work through initial nerves. Sally and Rimona continue to play great doubles and are improving with every match. We had a great week of practice and we trusted our preparation when it came to singles."

With EWU defaulting at the No. 5 and No. 6 positions, the Pilots needed to claim just one of the four singles matches to secure the win. Portland picked up straight sets wins at the top three spots in the lineup to ease to the victory.

Pethybridge and Neli Sunjic each won by 6-1, 6-1 margins and Iva Zelic finished her match strong at No. 1 singles for a 7-5, 6-0 win against Yasmin Mansouri. The Eagles picked up a point with a three-set super tiebreaker win by Kenzington Mann at No. 4 singles.

"Sally and Neli played their best singles matches of the season which is very encouraging going into match against Oregon tomorrow," Zivkovic noted. "Iva won 12 of the last 13 games played in her match and showed her mental toughness in a great way. We are excited for the challenge tomorrow and look forward to competing at a high level."

The Pilots remain in Eugene and will take on the Oregon Ducks (4-2) on Sunday at 2 p.m. Live video and live scoring will be available at GoDucks.com.

Portland 6, Eastern Washington 1
Eugene, Ore. (Student Tennis Center)
February 12, 2022

Singles
1. Iva Zelic (POR) def. Yasmin Mansouri (EWU) 7-5, 6-0
2. Sally Pethybridge (POR) def. Renata Gabuzyan (EWU) 6-1, 6-1
3. Neli Sunjic (POR) def. Isabella Foshee (EWU) 6-1, 6-1
4. Kenzington Mann (EWU) def. Marija Elenova (POR) 7-5, 1-6, 1-0 (8)
5. Rimona Rouf (POR) def. no player (EWU) by default
6. Aleksandra Dimitrijevic (POR) def. no player (EWU) by default
 
Doubles
1. Mansouri/Foshee (EWU) def. Zelic/Sunjic (POR) 6-3
2. Pethybridge/Rouf (POR) def. Gabuzyan/Mann (EWU) 6-3
3. Elenova/Dimitrijevic (POR) def. no player/no player (EWU) by default

Team Records:
Portland 2-1
Eastern Washington 1-5