SEATTLE, Wash. – The Portland men's team took on the No. 11 USC in a neutral site match Tuesday night at the Tennis Center at Sand Point and pushed the Trojans to the brink before falling by a 4-3 margin. Highlights for the Pilots included the No. 1 doubles team of Sema Pankin and Eleftherios Neos scoring a win over the No. 4-ranked team in the country and Nicolas Ocana defeating a Top 60 singles player.

The Pilots (0-4) took the early momentum by claiming the doubles point with wins at the top two positions. Pankin and Neos provided the clinching point at the No. 1 spot with a tiebreak victory over No. 3-ranked Stefan Dostanic and Bradley Frye. Julien Penzlin and Nikolas Tvedt previously knocked off Peter Makk and Wojtek Marek at No. 2 doubles by a 6-2 margin.

Three of the six players in the USC lineup are ranked in the Top 60 of the latest ITA National Rankings for singles, but the Pilots were able to make it interesting.

Penzlin and Ocana, both freshman, secured comeback victories at the No. 3 and No. 5 positions for the Pilots. Penzlin knocked off Frye at No. 3 singles by a 3-6, 6-4, 6-3 margin and Ocana scored a 5-7, 6-3, 7-6 victory against No. 59 Lodewijk Weststrate.

"Losing is something you never want to get used to, but saying you lost to USC 4-3 actually doesn't sound that bad," Portland head coach Aaron Gross said. "The main thing is we stepped up in some really crucial situations. I think some of our young guys gained some confidence. We played incredibly high-level doubles. Sema and Lefty play the complete match today and clinched it for us. Julien and Nicolas Ocana really had a nice coming out party today in just their fourth dual matches for Portland. USC is a legit very good team. None of our guys have anything to be ashamed of heading home. We aren't settling for good scores, but I do think we are moving in the right direction with a performance like tonight."

The Pilots will now prepare for their first home match of the 2022 season this Sunday against Portland State at 10 a.m. The match will have live video and live scoring available at PortlandPilots.com.

No. 11 USC 4, Portland 3
Seattle, Wash. (Tennis Center at Sand Point)
February 15, 2022

Singles
1. #4 Stefan Dostanic (USC) def. Sema Pankin (POR) 6-0, 6-4
2. Wojtek Marek (USC) def. Eleftherios Neos (POR) 6-2, 6-4
3. Julien Penzlin (POR) def. Bradley Frye (USC) 3-6, 6-4, 6-3
4. #46 Peter Makk (USC) def. Nikolas Tvedt (POR) 6-2, 6-3
5. Nicolas Ocana (POR) def. #59 Lodewijk Weststrate (USC) 5-7, 6-3, 7-6
6. Ryan Colby (USC) def. Oscar Brown (POR) 6-4, 6-2

Doubles
1. Pankin/Neos (POR) def. #3 Dostanic/Frye (USC) 7-6
2. Penzlin/Tvedt (POR) def. Makk/Marek (USC) 6-2
3. Colby/Paul Barretto (USC) def. Ocana/Brown (POR) 6-3

Team Records
Portland 0-4
USC 6-1