PORTLAND, Ore. – The Portland men's tennis team pulled out a 4-3 come-from-behind victory against the Utah State Aggies to open the 2025 dual season Saturday at the Louisiana-Pacific Tennis Center.

The Pilots (1-0) dropped the doubles point before winning four of the six singles matches and finishing strong against a quality opponent. The Aggies (1-1) are coming off a Mountain West Conference championship and 18-5 record a season ago.

Portland's ranked doubles tandem of Nikola Keremedchiev and Stefan Skobelev were up 4-3 at No. 1 doubles when Utah State clinched with wins at the No. 2 and No. 3 spots, respectively.

The Aggies went up 2-0 with a win at No. 3 singles before the Pilots took over. Keremedchiev, ranked No. 109 in singles, posted a comfortable 6-2, 6-3 win against David Martirosian at No. 2 singles and then Maxim Groysman was stellar in a 6-2, 4-6, 6-1 win at the top of the lineup against Sergi Mico Fenollar.

Freshman Lucas Kimelman cruised to a 6-2, 6-1 win at No. 5 singles against Eemil Pasanen for his first dual match win and then sophomore Tom Garcia also earned his first dual win and provided the clinching point with a 6-3, 6-3 decision against Roman Venger at No. 5 singles.

Dmitri Goubin capped the scoring with a narrow win at No. 6 singles for the Aggies in a super tiebreaker against Cade Fernando.

"I was super happy that we were able to come through with the win today," Portland head coach Aaron Gross said. "Utah State finished last year No. 65 in the country. They played well in the doubles and we played poorly. It looked like it could have gone the wrong way quickly after that, but we righted the ship. Max was awesome today. He did a great job of keeping his composure and beating a very solid player. Nikola took care of his business and it was awesome to see Tom and Lucas get their first dual match wins in very meaningful situations. As disappointed as I was with the doubles, I am equally excited with how we bounced back and am proud of this group. We have turn it around quick and do it again against a pretty solid Idaho team tomorrow, but we will enjoy this one for sure."

Portland will be back in action on Sunday to host the Idaho Vandals at LPTC with a 10 a.m. start. Live video and scoring links are available at PortlandPilots.com.

Portland 4, Utah State 3
Portland, Ore. (Louisiana-Pacific Tennis Center)
January 25, 2025

Singles
1. Maxim Groysman (POR) def. Sergi Mico Fenollar (USU) 6-2, 4-6, 6-1
2. #109 Nikola Keremedchiev (POR) def. David Martirosian (USU) 6-2, 6-3
3. Mohammad Alkotop (USU) def. Stefan Skobelev (POR) 6-4, 6-2
4. Tom Garcia (POR) def. Roman Venger (USU) 6-3, 6-3
5. Lucas Kimelman (POR) def. Eemil Pasanen (USU) 6-2, 6-1
6. Dmitri Goubin (USU) def. Cade Fernando (POR) 6-3, 2-6, 1-0 (8)

Doubles
1. #98 Keremedchiev/Skobelev (POR) vs. Martirosian/Eliot Nobel (USU) 4-3, unfinished
2. Alkotop/Goubin (USU) def. Groysman/Fernando (POR) 6-1
3. Mico Fenollar/Keanu Rigby (USU) def. Garcia/Kimelman (POR) 6-2

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