PORTLAND, Ore. – The Portland men's tennis team held home court with a 6-1 win over Loyola Marymount in West Coast Conference action Thursday at the Louisiana Pacific Tennis Center. The Pilots improve to 9-7 overall and 3-2 in league, while the Lions fall to 9-7 and 2-2 in WCC play.

Portland took care of business in doubles to grab the early lead. Sema Pankin and Eleftherios Neos cruised to a 6-2 win at No. 1 and then Issa Yoshida and Cade Fernando clinched with a 6-2 victory at No. 3.

Pankin and Neos made it a 3-0 Portland lead with straight set wins at No. 1 and No. 2 singles, respectively.

LMU picked up a point at No. 3 singles before the bottom of the Pilot lineup put the match away.

Maxim Groysman provided the clinching point with a 7-5, 6-0 win against Toky Ranaivo at No. 5. Nikolas Tvedt and Yoshida then capped the scoring with straight set wins at No. 4 and No. 6.

"We played very solid today," Portland head coach Aaron Gross said. "Doubles was good and Lefty and Sema were super solid in singles in their second to the last home match. It got a little dicey after Ocana  lost and definitely shifted some pressure to the lower part of our lineup. Max was able to clinch for us and Tvedt had one of his better wins of the season. Issa joined the other seniors with a good victory."

Portland returns to the court on Saturday for the final home match of the season. The Pilots face No. 36 Pepperdine beginning at 11 a.m. Live video and scoring links are available at PortlandPilots.com.

"Pepperdine comes in Saturday," Gross said. "Obviously they are maybe the team to beat in the conference along with San Diego. If we play like today, then we give ourselves a chance. My hope for the end of the season is to find consistency from day to day and even within each match. I think this was probably the most solid and steady match we have played all season."

Portland 6, Loyola Marymount 1
Portland, Ore. (Lousiana Pacific Tennis Center)
April 6, 2023

Singles
1. #100 Sema Pankin (POR) def. Arthur Pantino (LMU) 6-2, 6-3
2. Eleftherios Neos (POR) def. Yassine Smiej (LMU) 6-3, 6-1
3. Emin Torlic (LMU) def. Nicolas Ocana (POR) 6-4, 6-4
4. Nikolas Tvedt (POR) def. John Bryan Otico (LMU) 6-4, 6-3
5. Maxim Groysman (POR) def. Toky Ranaivo (LMU) 7-5, 6-0
6. Issa Yoshida (POR) def. Alvaro Gonzalez (LMU) 6-0, 6-3

Doubles
1. Neos/Pankin (POR) def. Otico/Di Giulio (LMU) 6-2
2. Torlic/Pantino (LMU) vs. Ocana/Tvedt (POR) 4-4, unfinished
3. Cade Fernando/Yoshida (POR) def. Smiej/Ranaivo (LMU) 6-2

Match Notes:
Loyola Marymount 9-7, 2-2 WCC
Portland 9-7, 3-2 WCC
Order of finish: Doubles (1); Singles (1,2,3,5,6,4)