SAN DIEGO, Calif. – Portland men's tennis dropped a 5-2 road decision to the San Diego State Aztecs Friday afternoon. The Pilots fall to 6-3 on the season, while the Aztecs improve to 11-3 overall.

Luka Vukovic and Fabian Gusic picked up Portland's two points during singles action.

SDSU won the doubles point with wins at the No. 2 and No. 3 positions.

Vukovic defeated Chikaya Sato 6-2, 7-5 at No. 3 singles for his third consecutive win, while Gusic improved to 2-0 in dual singles this Spring with a 6-3, 6-4 win against Alexander Mandma at the No. 6 position.

The Aztecs earned straight set wins at No. 1, No. 2 and No. 4, while Robin Parts edged Portland sophomore Nikola Keremedchiev 10-8 in a super tiebreaker at No. 5 to complete the scoring.

"It takes a special effort to beat a good team on the road and our effort wasn't there today," Portland head coach Aaron Gross said. "Luka had a very good day, but we were just outplayed at a few positions, which is understandable. They are a good team and play well on their home court. I think we're getting to that point where we realize the effort it's going to take to beat some of our conference opponents on the road. These are comparable teams and we can't have the ebbs and flows that we seem to be having if we are going to create a special afternoon on one of these days."

Portland will next take the court against the LMU Lions on Saturday at noon.

San Diego State 5, Portland 2
San Diego, Calif. (Aztec Tennis Center)
March 22, 2024

Singles
1. Johannes Seeman (SDSU) def. Oscar Brown (POR) 6-2, 6-2
2. Bora Sengul (SDSU) def. Nicolas Ocana (POR) 6-3, 6-3
3. Luka Vukovic (POR) def. Chikaya Sato (SDSU) 6-2, 7-5
4. Eugenio Gonzalez Fitzmaurice (SDSU) def. Maxim Groysman (POR) 6-4, 6-1
5. Robin Parts (SDSU) def. Nikola Keremedchiev (POR) 6-3, 4-6, 10-8
6. Fabian Gusic (POR) def. Liam Spiers (SDSU) 6-2, 7-6 (1)

Doubles
1. Vukovic/Nikolas Tvedt (POR) vs. Alexander Mandma/Parts (SDSU) 5-5 unfinished
2. Seeman/Fitzmaurice (SDSU) def. Ocana/Keremedchiev (POR) 6-2
3. Sato/Sengul (SDSU) def. Brown/Stefan Skobelev (POR) 6-3

Match Notes
Portland 6-4
San Diego State 11-3
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