PORTLAND, Ore.  – The Portland women's tennis team picked up a 5-2 win against the Santa Clara Broncos Thursday at Degheri Tennis Center. The Pilots improve to 8-7 overall and 1-1 in West Coast Conference play, while the Broncos fall to 4-9 and 0-2 in league.

Portland had to battle back after dropping a hard-fought doubles point. The Pilots got a 6-1 win at No. 3 doubles from Alaia Rubio Perez and Rimona Rouf, but the Broncos won 7-5 and 6-4 at the No. 1 and No. 2 positions, respectively.

Sally Pethybridge evened the overall score with a comfortable 6-2, 6-1 win against Finley Kalinic at No. 2 singles. Rimona Rouf followed with a 6-0, 6-4 win at No. 5 against Varya Zlotnik. After the Broncos pulled out a three-setter at No. 3, Iva Zelic defeated JennaMarie Gordon 7-6, 6-0 at No. 1 and Meagan Pearson clinched it for Portland with a 7-6, 6-2 win against Maria Antonova at No. 6.

The Pilots also earned a win at No. 5 singles with Aleksandra Dimitrijevic outlasting Gabriela Tevez 7-5, 4-6, 10-3 in a third set super tiebreaker.

"This was a tremendous team effort and an incredible battle for us today," Portland head coach Filip Zivkovic said. "Santa Clara is always a very tough opponent at home and getting this win took a lot of grit, belief and mental toughness. Doubles was tough, especially with the uncertainty of rain delays. We had opportunities but need to be more committed to playing doubles our way on big points. Singles was solid start to finish. Sally and Rimona played very clean matches. Iva was able to dig her way back from 1-5 down in the first set to put us up 3-2 and Meagan played a very solid match to clinch it for us. Aleks put an exclamation point with a very solid match and we all showed a lot of resilience today. I'm proud of this group and hope that we can get the rest of our matches played this week.

The Pilots continue a busy weekend in the Bay Area with a Friday match against Saint Mary's at 9 a.m. and Saturday contest versus San Francisco at 1 p.m.

Portland 5, Santa Clara 2
Santa Clara, Calif. (Degheri Tennis Center)
March 28, 2024

Singles
1. Iva Zelic (POR) def. JennaMarie Gordon (SCU) 7-6 (4), 6-0
2. Sally Pethybridge (POR) def. Finley Kalinic (SCU) 6-2, 6-1
3. Velizara Fileva (SCU) def. Alaia Rubio Perez (POR) 4-6, 6-0, 6-0
4. Aleksandra Dimitrijevic (POR) def. Gabriela Tevez (SCU) 7-5, 4-6, 1-0 (3)
5. Rimona Rouf (POR) def. Varya Zlotnik (SCU) 6-0, 6-4
6. Meagan Pearson (POR) def. Maria Antonova (SCU) 7-6 (1), 6-2

Doubles
1. JennaMarie Gordon/Velizara Fileva (SCU) def. Iva Zelic/Sally Pethybridge (POR) 7-5
2. Finley Kalinic/Varya Zlotnik (SCU) def. Aleks Dimitrijevic/Meagan Pearson (POR) 6-4
3. Alaia Rubio Perez/Rimona Rouf (POR) def. Kacey Feng/Gabriela Tevez (SCU) 6-1

Match Notes:
Portland 8-7, 1-1 WCC
Santa Clara 4-9, 0-2 WCC
Order of finish: Doubles (3,2,1); Singles (2,5,3,1,6,4)
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