PORTLAND, Ore. – Portland took the doubles point and Cade Fernando picked up a singles win, but the No. 40 Santa Clara Broncos held on for a 5-2 West Coast Conference men's tennis win Sunday at the Louisiana-Pacific Tennis Center.

The Pilots (5-11, 0-3) were without senior No. 1 Nikola Keremedchiev for the second straight match due to injury. Despite his absence, Portland grabbed the early momentum by taking the doubles point with a pair of wins against ranked opponents.

Stefan Skobelev and Lucas Kimelman came back for a 6-4 win against No. 50 Luca Bluett and John Kim at the top of the order. The Pilots clinched at No. 2 with Tom Garcia and Eli Noel defeating 57th-ranked Tiago Boschmans and Luca Lemaitre, 6-3. Fernando and Tannor Binder were up 5-4 at No. 3 when the point was clinched.

The Broncos (15-2, 2-0 WCC) took the lead with three straight set singles wins at No. 2, No. 3 and No. 4, respectively. Fernando then outlasted Alexander Watanabe Eriksson 3-6, 7-6, 7-6 to make it 3-2. Santa Clara clinched with a win at No. 5 singles shortly thereafter and also won at No. 6.

"Full credit to Santa Clara, they are a very good team and showed it today," Portland head coach Aaron Gross said. "We played excellent doubles and I expected that momentum to carry over into singles, but they just buckled down and got right to work and didn't let us build on it. Cade Fernando had the best win he's ever had today and he earned every point of it with tenacity. He did a great job. We played two excellent teams this weekend and I'd like to think that they got their money's worth."

Portland will be back in action against two more nationally ranked WCC opponents on the road next weekend. The Pilots visit No. 58 LMU on Saturday at 11 a.m. and then No. 25 Pepperdine Sunday at 10 a.m. Visit PortlandPilots.com for live coverage links.

#40 Santa Clara 5, Portland 2
Portland, Ore. (Louisiana-Pacific Tennis Center)
March 29, 2026

Singles
1. Cade Fernando (POR) def. Alexander Watanabe Eriksson (SCU) 3-6, 7-6 (3), 7-6 (5)
2. Luca Lemaitre (SCU) def. Tom Garcia (POR) 6-3, 6-3
3. John Kim (SCU) vs. Lucas Kimelman (POR) 7-5, 6-3
4. Lukas Maskow (SCU) def. Stefan Skobelev (POR) 7-5, 6-3
5. Valentin Faure (SCU) def. Tannor Binder (POR) 6-4, 6-4
6. Luca Bluett (SCU) def. Gian Manhas (POR) 6-3, 6-4

Doubles
1. Skobelev/Kimelman (POR) def. #50 Bluett/Kim (SCU) 6-4
2. Garcia/Eli Noel (POR) def. #57 Tiago Boschmans/Lemaitre (SCU) 6-3
3. Fernando/Binder (POR) vs. Faure/Ferran Redza (SCU) 5-4, unfinished

Match Notes:
Portland 5-11, 0-3 WCC
#40 Santa Clara 15-2, 2-0 WCC
Order of Finish: Doubles (2,1); Singles (2,3,4,1,5,6)

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