PORTLAND, Ore. – The Portland men's tennis team opened West Coast Conference play with a 7-0 win against Pacific Northwest rival Gonzaga Sunday afternoon at Louisiana-Pacific Tennis Center. The Pilots improve to 6-3 overall, while the Bulldogs fall to 5-5.

Portland battled to secure the doubles point as all three matches went down to the wire. Gonzaga earned a 6-4 win at the No. 2 position before the Pilots took the point with tiebreak wins at the other two spots. Oscar Brown and Stefan Skobelev outlasted Oscar Rashed and Gus Krauel 7-3 at No. 3 and then Luka Vukovic and Nikolas Tvedt beat Sasha Trkulja and Matthew Hollingworth 7-4 at No. 1 doubles.

Singles was also hard-fought, but the Pilots won the big points during the first wave of matches. Vukovic doubled Portland's lead with a 6-4, 7-5 win at No. 3 against Leon Roider. Nicolas Ocana then outlasted Hollingworth at No. 2 by a 6-2, 0-6, 6-4 margin before Brown clinched the overall match with a 6-4, 1-6, 6-3 win against Trkulja at the top of the lineup.

Maxim Groysman and Nikola Keremedchiev added straight set wins at No. 4 and No. 5, respectively. Skobelev then completed the sweep with a 3-6, 6-1, 10-7 super tiebreaker win against Krauel at No. 6.

"We had a gut check effort from our top three players today," Portland head coach Aaron Gross said. "Oscar and Ocana both got good starts against higher ranked opponents and both of their opponents came back strong in the second to even it. We were just really tough and resilient in the third. Luka continues to play better and better tennis and won a close two-set match. Max had a very nice win against a good player at No. 4. Honestly, we were fortunate to win the doubles. Tvedt and Luka stepped up big time to beat one of the best teams in the conference over the last three years in a tiebreak to get the doubles point for us. We have to make a pretty quick shift now and get ready for some outdoor tennis next week down in Southern California. Facing two solid teams on their home courts will be a nice challenge."

Portland continues dual action next weekend in Southern California with a non-league matchup against San Diego State on Friday at 2 p.m. The Pilots then visit WCC rival LMU on Saturday at noon.

Portland 7, Gonzaga 0
Portland, Ore. (Louisiana-Pacific Tennis Center)
March 17, 2024

Singles
1. Oscar Brown (POR) def. Sasha Trkulja (GU) 6-4, 1-6, 6-3
2. Nicolas Ocana (POR) def. Matthew Hollingworth (GU) 6-2, 0-6, 6-4
3. Luka Vukovic (POR) def. Leon Roider (GU) 6-4, 7-5
4. Maxim Groysman (POR) def. Pablo Gomez Galvan (GU) 6-1, 6-3
5. Nikola Keremedchiev (POR) def. Oscar Rashed (GU) 6-2, 6-2
6. Stefan Skobelev (POR) def. Gus Krauel (GU) 3-6, 6-1, 1-0 (6)

Doubles
1. Vukovic/Nikolas Tvedt (POR) def. Trkulja/Hollingworth (GU) 7-6 (4)
2. Roider/Gomez Galvan (GU) def. Ocana/Keremedchiev (POR) 6-4
3. Brown/Skobelev (POR) def. Rashed/Krauel (GU) 7-6 (3)

Match Notes:
Gonzaga 5-5, 0-1 WCC
Portland 6-3, 1-0 WCC
Order of finish: Doubles (2,3,1); Singles (3,2,1,4,5,6)
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