PORTLAND, Ore. – The Portland men's tennis team improved to 6-0 at the Louisiana Pacific Tennis Center this season after a 4-2 West Coast Conference win against the Saint Mary's Gaels on Friday. The Pilots improve to 8-9 overall and 4-3 in league play, while the Gaels drop to 5-13 and 2-4 in conference.

Portland cruised to the doubles point as the No. 3 tandem of seniors Issa Yoshida and Nicklas Oberg beat Caelan Potts and Felipe Rincon by a 6-1 margin. The No. 31-ranked duo of Sema Pankin and Eleftherios Neos clinched with a 6-3 win against Boris Reckow and James Potts at No. 1 doubles. Pankin and Neos improved to 17-4 overall, 4-1 in WCC play and have now won five straight.

Pankin doubled the Pilots lead with a comfortable 6-1, 6-3 win against Mathis Moysan at No. 1 singles, but the Gaels evened the score with wins at No. 2 and No. 3.

"I like that we were tested today," Portland head coach Aaron Gross said. "We played very good doubles and may have gotten overconfident going into the singles. Sema continues to be one of the best players in the conference and proves it every day, but Lefty (Neos) and (Nicolas) Ocana struggled today. They both had some very tricky opponents that gave them looks that they weren't accustomed to."

Yoshida gave Portland the momentum back with a 6-3, 6-2 win versus Karlo Divkovic and then freshman Oscar Brown provided the clinching point with a 6-2, 6-1 win against Thibaud Maxant at the No. 6 spot. Nikolas Tvedt was leading Carlos Ramos 7-5, 2-1 when the match was concluded.

"The match was tied when numbers four, five and six all went out to play," Gross noted. "Issa played a very nice match and our freshman Oscar clinched it. Even though the match was clinched at that point Nik (Tvedt) played a very important first set in his match. He was down a break against a solid player and ended up coming back and win and really kept the pressure on the other two courts."

The Pilots finish the home weekend by hosting the Pacific Tigers on Saturday at 10 a.m. Fans can follow the action with live video and scoring links at PortlandPilots.com.

Portland 4, Saint Mary's 2
Portland, Ore. (Louisiana Pacific Tennis Center)
April 15, 2022

Singles
1. Sema Pankin (POR) def. Mathis Moysan (SMC) 6-1, 6-3
2. James Watt (SMC) def. Eleftherios Neos (POR) 3-6, 6-1, 6-4
3. Caelan Potts (SMC) def. Nicolas Ocana (POR) 7-5, 6-3
4. Issa Yoshida (POR) def. Karlo Divkovic (SMC) 6-3, 6-2
5. Nikolas Tvedt (POR) vs. Carlos Ramos (SMC) 7-5, 2-1, unfinished
6. Oscar Brown (POR) def. Thibaud Maxant (SMC) 6-2, 6-1

Doubles
1. #31 Pankin/Neos (POR) def. Boris Reckow/Watt (SMC) 6-3
2. Tvedt/Ocana (POR) vs. Moysan/Ramos (SMC) 5-2, unfinished
3. Yoshida/Nicklas Oberg (POR) def. Potts/Felipe Rincon (SMC) 6-1

Match Notes:
Saint Mary's 5-13, 2-4 WCC
Portland 8-9, 4-3 WCC
Order of finish: Doubles (3,1); Singles (1,3,2,4,6)