SANTA CLARA, Calif. – Looking for its fourth win in a row, the Santa Clara men's tennis team was unable to prolong its early momentum, eventually dropping its match to the University of Portland by a score of 4-1 on Sunday.
The Broncos (9-9, 2-2 WCC) took command in the early going after clinching the doubles point in comeback fashion before Portland (12-6, 3-2 WCC) shifted the momentum in its favor, winning four straight singles matches to hand Santa Clara its first loss since March 25.
"We had Portland on the ropes after doubles but credit to them for remaining poised and responding in doubles," said Head Coach Derek Mills. "This one slipped away from us and we will have to regroup for next weekend's conference matches."
Reshuffling its lineup in doubles, Santa Clara found itself down early on for the third match in a row after Ashot Khacharyan and Jeffrey Liang were defeated 6-1 on Court 3.
Fortunately for Santa Clara, Andrew Gu and Kamran Khan were able to get the Broncos back in striking position on Court 2. Playing together for the first time all year, the freshmen pairing held off Portland's Kent Andreasen and Alex Wallace in a back and forth match to win 6-4 and give Connor Garnett and Robert Seby a chance at the No. 1 position.
Santa Clara's top pairing answered the comeback call. Boasting a two match winning streak, the freshmen duo made it three in a row with a thrilling 7-6 (10-8) come-from-behind victory. The Bronco tandem responded from a 5-4 hole to take a 6-5 lead before Portland's Mike Pervolarakis and Mathieu Garcia, previously 8-1 on the year, tied the match at 6-6. Pushed to a tiebreaker, the Broncos rallied once again from a 6-4 hole to capture six out of the next eight points and the doubles point victory.
Portland regained control in singles courtesy of its twin competitors on Courts 2 and 3. Pierre Garcia rolled to a 6-3, 6-0 winner over Seby and, in an almost identical fashion, Mathieu Garcia controlled Gu with a 6-3, 6-1 win next door.
The Pilots continued to take control when Pervolarakis regrouped from a first set defeat to defeat Khacharyan in the next two sets after the Santa Clara senior was forced to retire. With the loss, Khacharyan's two match winning streak came to an end and Portland increased its lead to 3-1.
Representing Santa Clara's last hope at the time, Sebastien Mathieu could not keep the Broncos alive, dropping his match 6-2, 6-0.
The Broncos will return home for their final homestand of the season next weekend against Brigham Young University and the University of San Diego.
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