PORTLAND, Ore. – Portland pushed No. 7 San Diego in a number of spots but came up short in a 5-1 loss to the Toreros Friday at the Louisiana-Pacific Tennis Center. Tom Garcia picked up a three-set win to put Portland on the board.

The Pilots (7-8, 1-4 WCC) battled from the outset and had a chance to take the doubles point. The No. 2 tandem of Nikola Keremedchiev and Cade Fernando defeated Adrien Berrut and Savriyan Danilov 6-4, but San Diego's No. 3-ranked duo of Oliver Tarvet and Stian Klaassen evened the score with a 6-3 win. No. 3 doubles went to a tiebreaker where Garcia and freshman Lucas Kimelman came up just short against Blake Kasday and Nikhil Niranjan.

The Toreros (20-3, 5-0) carried the momentum into singles play with No. 83-ranked Danilov winning in straight sets at No. 2. Tarvet, ranked No. 3 nationally in singles, held off Maxim Groysman 6-0, 7-6 at No. 1 and then Klaassen clinched the overall team match with a hard-fought, 6-7, 7-6, 7-5 win against Stefan Skobelev at the No. 3 position.

Garcia beat Neo Niedner 6-4, 3-6, 10-7 in a super tiebreaker at No. 4. San Diego picked up another straight sets win at No. 5 and took the first set at No. 6 before the match was abandoned.

"I thought we played really well today," Portland head coach Aaron Gross said. "We needed some things to go right to have a chance to beat the No. 7 team in the country, beginning with doubles. We played great doubles overall but just couldn't get over the hump in the deciding tiebreaker. Max played a great second set against the No. 3 player in the country and Stefan had an incredibly close match that could have gone either way. Tom pulled out a really nice win.

"This is definitely not a match that we should have won, but I'm very encouraged how close we are to playing at a pretty high level. Unfortunately, we only have two matches left. We are kind of running the gauntlet where our final three matches are against the highest ranked teams in the league. All we are really asking of these matches is to put ourselves in positions to push it over the top. If we put ourselves in those positions, then that's all we can ask and hope that it goes our way."

Portland will be back in action Sunday against No. 23 Pepperdine with a 10 a.m. start at the Louisiana-Pacific Tennis Center. Live coverage is available at PortlandPilots.com.

#7 San Diego 5, Portland 1
Portland, Ore. (Louisiana-Pacific Tennis Center)
April 11, 2025


Singles
1. #3 Oliver Tarvet (USD) def. Maxim Groysman (POR) 6-0, 7-6 (4)
2. #83 Savriyan Danilov (USD) def. Nikola Keremedchiev (POR) 6-3, 6-3
3. Stian Klaassen (USD) def. Stefan Skobelev (POR) 6-7 (5), 7-6 (5), 7-5
4. Tom Garcia (POR) def. Neo Niedner (USD) 6-4, 3-6, 10-7
5. Adrien Berrut (USD) def. Lucas Kimelman (POR) 6-2, 6-2
6. Blake Kasday (USD) vs. Cade Fernando (POR) 6-4, unfinished

Doubles
1. #3 Tarvet/Klaassen (USD) def. Groysman/Skobelev (POR) 6-3
2. Keremedchiev/Fernando (POR) def. Berrut/Danilov (USD) 6-4
3. #7 Kasday/Nikhil Niranjan (USD) def. Garcia/Kimelman (POR) 7-6 (3)

Match Notes:
San Diego 20-3, 5-0 WCC; National ranking #7
Portland 7-8, 1-4 WCC
Order of finish: Doubles (1,2,3); Singles (2,1,3,5,4,6) Get Your Tickets Now!
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