Portland men’s tennis secured a 5-2 victory over Liberty University in a neutral site match at the Student Tennis Center on the University of Oregon campus. The win brings Portland’s season record to 3-5, while Liberty falls to 4-5.
Head coach Aaron Gross commented on the team’s performance, saying, “I’m really proud of the effort tonight. We have lost several close matches in a row and were feeling snakebitten, but the guys smashed through that wall tonight. Starting with the doubles, Eli and Tom came up huge to clinch for us and then we just carried the momentum into the singles and stuck with it even in some tight moments.”
Portland claimed the doubles point after Nikola Keremedchiev and Cade Fernando won their match 6-4 at No. 1 doubles, followed by Eli Noel and Tom Garcia securing a 7-5 win at No. 3 doubles. The pair of Keremedchiev and Fernando now holds a 12-3 record this year in doubles play.
In singles competition, Stefan Skobelev delivered a straight-set win at No. 5, while Lucas Kimelman added another point with his victory at No. 4 singles. Keremedchiev clinched the overall match for Portland with his win at No. 1 singles, finishing with scores of 7-5, 6-3. Fernando also contributed by winning his three-set match.
Gross highlighted the significance of this result: “On paper this is one of the best wins we’ve had in the last couple of years,” he said. “It was just nice to see it all come together tonight after some heartbreakers lately.”
The Pilots will take an extended break before returning to action against Montana State on March 1 at their home facility.
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