Box Score IRVINE, Calif. – Portland dropped a 6-1 decision to the No. 50 UC Irvine Anteaters in the first outdoor match of the season for the Pilots Saturday at UC Irvine Tennis Stadium. Portland drops to 3-4 overall, while UC Irvine improves to 5-3.

The Anteaters earned the doubles point after a 6-4 win at No. 1 and 6-3 victory at No. 2. Portland's No. 3 doubles tandem of Tom Garcia and Lucas Kimelman were trailing 5-4 when the point was clinched

Garcia was a bright spot for the Pilots in singles with a 6-3, 6-2 win at the No. 4 position against Max Fardanesh.

Portland competed well at the top of the lineup as Maxim Groysman battled Andy Nguyen before falling 6-3, 7-6 at No. 1 and Nikola Keremedchiev pushed Ruining Huang, but came up just short in a third set super tiebreaker by a 10-7 margin.

"Irvine is a very solid team, especially on their home courts," Portland head coach Aaron Gross said. "We are using this trip to try and get acclimated to outdoor tennis. It is definitely tricky playing a good team outdoors on their own courts, plus it was a little bit windy, but we had some guys do a good job today.

"Tom came through with a very nice win and Max and Nikola were gritty against very good players, but couldn't quite get the W. Everything considered, I think today was a success and we became better tennis players and got more acclimated to the outdoors."

Portland returns to the courts tomorrow for a neutral site match against Temple with a 1 p.m. start at the Racquet Club of Irvine.

#50 UC Irvine 6, Portland 1
Irvine, Calif. (Anteater Tennis Stadium)
March 1, 2025

Singles
1. Andy Nguyen (UCI) def. Maxim Groysman (POR) 6-3, 7-6 (3)
2. Ruining Huang (UCI) def. Nikola Keremedchiev (POR) 6-7 (7), 6-2, 10-7
3. Rithvik Krishna (UCI) def. Stefan Skobelev (POR) 6-4, 6-3
4. Tom Garcia (POR) def. Max Fardanesh (UCI) 6-3, 6-2
5. Lawee Sherif (UCI) def. Lucas Kimelman (POR) 7-6 (3), 6-1
6. Sohrob Amiryavari (UCI) def. Cade Fernando (POR) 6-2, 6-2

Doubles
1. Nguyen/Sherif (UCI) def. Nikola Keremedchiev/Stefan Skobelev (POR) 6-4
2. Amiryavari/Fardanesh (UCI) def. Cade Fernando/Maxim Groysman (POR) 6-3
3. Huang/Krishna (UCI) vs. Tom Garcia/Lucas Kimelman (POR) 5-4, unfinished

Match Notes:
Portland 3-4
UC Irvine 5-3; National ranking #50
Order of finish: Doubles (2,1); Singles (6,3,5,4,1,2)
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