PORTLAND, Ore. – The Portland men's tennis team finished off an action-packed weekend with a 5-2 home victory over the Idaho State Bengals on Sunday at the Louisiana Pacific Tennis Center.

The Pilots dropped a close match to conference rival San Diego at home on Friday before defeating a tough UNLV team 4-1 in Seattle on Saturday. With Sunday's win the Pilots improve to 4-3, while the Bengals fall to 3-5.

The heavy schedule showed early as Portland dropped the doubles point. The Pilot No. 3 doubles tandem of Nicolas Ocana and Oscar Brown picked up a 6-2 win, but Idaho State won the other two matches to take the early 1-0 lead.

"I think a combination of three matches in three days, our opponent playing well, as well as us being really flat led to a really poor doubles performance by us," Portland head coach Aaron Gross said. "The way we responded in the singles was very positive, but I don't think that we can expect to get away with that against our conference opponents."

Ocana set the tone with a 6-3, 6-1 singles win over Andreas Kramer at No. 3 to even the score. The Bengals briefly regained the lead with a victory at No. 2 singles, but Sema Pankin grinded out a 6-4, 7-6 win at the top of the lineup to make it a 2-2 team score.

Brown continued his stellar play with a comfortable 6-2, 6-2 win at No. 4 and then Maxim Groysman provided the clinching point for the second day in a row with a 6-0, 6-3 win at No. 6. Nikolas Tvedt capped the scoring with a 6-4, 6-2 win at the No. 5 position.

"Nik Tvedt has continued to make a big jump in his game," Gross said. "Max has been a huge addition and Nic Ocana and Oscar Brown have been really consistent. I think us struggling a little bit at the higher part of the lineup is helping make our lower guys come through in tougher situation. Sema and Lefty have been so consistent over the last couple of years and have really anchored our leads in our home matches that sometimes by the time the lower guys get on the court there isn't a lot of pressure. Today was one of those days that they had to come through and they did."

The Pilots will return home to host the Northern Arizona Lumberjacks on Saturday, Feb. 25 at 10 a.m. Live video and scoring links are available at PortlandPilots.com.

Portland 5, Idaho State 2
Portland, Ore. (Louisiana Pacific Tennis Center)
February 19, 2023

Singles
1. #72 Sema Pankin (POR) def. Patrick Kristensen (ISU) 6-4, 7-6 (2)
2. Valentino De Pellegrin (ISU) def. Eleftherios Neos (POR) 6-4, 6-3
3. Nicolas Ocana (POR) def. Andreas Kramer (ISU) 6-3, 6-1
4. Oscar Brown (POR) def. Wikus Robbertse (ISU) 6-2, 6-2
5. Nikolas Tvedt (POR) def. Victor Sklenka (ISU) 6-4, 6-2
6. Maxim Groysman (POR) def. Hiroki Fujita (ISU) 6-0, 6-3

Doubles
1. Kramer/De Pellegrin (ISU) def. Pankin/Tvedt (POR) 7-6 (5)
2. Kristensen/Robbertse (ISU) def. Neos/Issa Yoshida (POR) 6-2
3. Ocana/Brown (POR) def. Fujita/Ethan Lye (ISU) 6-2

Match Notes:
Idaho State 3-5
Portland 4-3
Order of finish: Doubles (2,3,1); Singles (3,2,1,4,6,5)
  Get Your Tickets Now!
Secure your spot now for any upcoming Portland Pilots ticketed home event by visiting PortlandPilots.com/Tickets or by downloading the Portland Pilots App.  For group and fan experience package information, email pilotsboxoffice@up.edu.

Donate Today
Fans interested in making a contribution to the Pilot Athletic Fund can do so by clicking here. Your gift directly helps our nearly 300 student-athletes as they strive to make a difference in our community and achieve academic and athletic excellence. Thank you for support of Pilot Athletics!

Follow Along With the Action
Get the latest news and information about your favorite University of Portland athletic programs by visiting PortlandPilots.com. You can also follow along for the most dynamic coverage and team-centric content by following us on Twitter, liking us on Facebook, and following us on Instagram.