Box Score PORTLAND, Ore. – Portland senior Sema Pankin played one of his best matches in his final appearance at the Louisiana Pacific Tennis Center on Saturday. Pankin cruised to a 6-3, 6-2 win against No. 94 Tim Zeitvogel at the top of the singles lineup, but the Pilots ultimately dropped a 5-1 decision to the No. 36 Pepperdine Waves in West Coast Conference action.

Pankin, along with fellow fifth-year seniors Eleftherios Neos and Issa Yoshida, have been mainstays in the Pilot lineup for the last five years.

Pankin and Neos teamed up for a 6-4 doubles victory over the No. 47-ranked duo of Zeitvogel and Daniel De Jonge to open doubles play. The Waves were able to secure a close doubles point with a 6-4 win at No. 3 and 7-6 clincher at No. 2.
The Waves went up 2-0 with a win at No. 3 singles before Pankin put the Pilots on the board. Neos and De Jonge, who is ranked No. 69 nationally, had an epic battle at No. 2 singles. De Jonge held on for a 7-5, 5-7, 6-3 win and then Maxi Homberg clinched it for Pepperdine with a win at No. 5. The Waves picked up their final point from Pietro Fellin at No. 4 singles.

"Pepperdine is legit," Portland head coach Aaron Gross said. "We really needed to get the doubles point to keep the pressure on them because they just have a little bit too much of an edge in too many spots. Sema was by far the best player in the building today. He can make a living playing the sport if he can find that level consistently. And Lefty battled an excellent player all the way to the end in his last home match. We needed some things to really break our way today to have a chance to get the win, but we just weren't able to get over the hump at some big moments to have that opportunity."

The Pilots will now hit the road for their final three regular season matches. Next week Portland visits Saint Mary's and Pacific, before taking on Gonzaga on Saturday, April 22.

#36 Pepperdine 5, Pilots 1
Portland, Ore. (Louisiana Pacific Tennis Center)
April 8, 2023

Singles
1. #100 Sema Pankin (POR) def. #94 Tim Zeitvogel (PEP) 6-3, 6-2
2. #69 Daniel De Jonge (PEP) def. Eleftherios Neos (POR) 7-5, 5-7, 6-3
3. Eero Vasa (PEP) def. Nicolas Ocana (POR) 6-3, 6-0
4. Pietro Fellin (PEP) def. Nikolas Tvedt (POR) 6-2, 6-4
5. Maxi Homberg (PEP) def. Maxim Groysman (POR) 6-2, 6-3
6. Issa Yoshida (POR) vs. Linus Carlsson Halldi (PEP) unfinished

Doubles
1. Pankin/Neos (POR) def. #47 Zeitvogel/De Jonge (PEP) 6-4
2. Vasa/Homberg (PEP) def. Ocana/Tvedt (POR) 7-6 (1)
3. Fellin/Carlsson Halldi (PEP) def. Cade Fernando/Yoshida (POR) 6-4

Match Notes:
Portland 9-8, 3-3 WCC
Pepperdine 13-7, 5-0 WCC
Order of Finish: Singles (3,1,2,5,4); Doubles (1,3,2)

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