Box Score SAN DIEGO, Calif. – The Portland men's tennis team recorded a 4-1 win over the BYU Cougars in the first round of the 2023 West Coast Conference Championships Thursday at the Aztec Tennis Complex. The Pilots (12-9) advance to face top-seeded and No. 30-ranked San Diego in Friday's semifinals at 1:30 p.m.

Portland came out with a dominant effort in doubles to take the early 1-0 lead. Portland's senior tandem of Sema Pankin and Eleftherios Neos cruised to a 6-3 win at the No. 1 position and then Nicolas Ocana and Nikolas Tvedt clinched with a 6-2 win at No. 2.

It was Portland's trio of fifth-year seniors that came through once again in singles to help the Pilots advance.

Pankin, recently named the WCC Co-Player of the Year, doubled Portland's lead with a 6-4, 6-1 win against Jack Barnett at the top of the lineup. Neos followed with a 7-5, 6-1 win against Wally Thayne at No. 2 and then Issa Yoshida provided the clinching point with a 7-6, 6-1 defeat of Brigham Andrus at No. 6.

"We played really good doubles today, which in a sense worked against us," Portland head coach Aaron Gross said. "I feel like we may have come out a little overconfident in the singles. Lefty and Sema continue to really get the job done every time out and then Issa came up big with the clinch. I think we have to bring the same decisiveness to doubles tomorrow and everybody must step up to give us a shot against San Diego, but even then, there would be no guarantees since they are a very good team. We are definitely relieved and happy to be going to the final four of the tournament."

The Pilots and Toreros will meet tomorrow at 1:30 p.m. with live video and live scoring available courtesy of WCCSports.com.

Portland 4, BYU 1
San Diego, Calif. (Aztec Tennis Complex)
April 27, 2023

Singles
1. #101 Sema Pankin (POR) def. Jack Barnett (BYU) 6-4, 6-1
2. Eleftherios Neos (POR) def. Wally Thayne (BYU) 7-5, 6-1
3. Nicolas Ocana (POR) vs. Zach Fuchs (BYU) 4-6, 6-4, 0-3
4. Dominik Jakovljevic (BYU) def. Nikolas Tvedt (POR) 6-4, 6-4
5. Maxim Groysman (POR) vs. Redd Owen (BYU) 4-5, 5-5, unfinished
6. Issa Yoshida (POR) def. Brigham Andrus (BYU) 7-6 (4), 6-1

Doubles
1. Pankin/Neos (POR) def. Barnett/Thayne (BYU) 6-3
2. Ocana/Tvedt (POR) def. Fuchs/Andrus (BYU) 6-2
3. Cade Fernando/Yoshida (POR) def. Jakovljevic/Owen (BYUI) 4-3, unfinished

Match Notes:
Portland 12-9
BYU 6-16
Order of finish: Doubles (1,2); Singles (1,2,4,6)