Portland men’s tennis ended its participation in the Golden State Invite with a narrow 4-3 loss to New Mexico State on Saturday in Sacramento. The Pilots had started the tournament by defeating UC Davis before falling to Nevada.
The match began with Portland securing the doubles point. Nikola Keremedchiev and Cade Fernando extended their winning streak to eight matches, overcoming Roko Stipetic and Tobias Wallin 7-5 at No. 1 doubles. After New Mexico State won on court two, Tom Garcia and Eli Noel clinched the point for Portland with a 6-4 victory over Holland Snell and Laurendi Fischer.
In singles play, all six matches were decided in straight sets. Cade Fernando gave Portland a strong start by defeating Stipetic 6-3, 6-2 at No. 3 singles, while Keremedchiev followed up with a 6-1, 6-2 win against Wallin at No. 1 singles, putting the Pilots ahead 3-0.
However, New Mexico State rallied to win the remaining four singles matches and secured the overall team victory.
Portland will return home to host Montana on Friday at the Louisiana-Pacific Tennis Center. The match is scheduled for a 10 a.m. start time, with live coverage available on PortlandPilots.com.
