Feb. 4, 2006

PORTLAND, Ore. - The University of Portland's men's tennis team improved their 2006 overall record to .500 with a 6-1 home win over Nevada on Friday night at the Louisiana-Pacific Tennis Center.

"I told the team before the game that this was a character match for them," Pilots head coach Aaron Gross said. "We needed to bounce back from a really bad performance (against Santa Clara) and show who we really are."

Portland's Darragh Rowan and Alex Strom quickly dispatched their opposition in the No. 3 doubles position, posting an 8-1 victory. When playing in the No. 3 spot, Rowan and Strom have an unblemished 3-0 record. The Pilots clinched the doubles point with an 8-5 victory at No. 1 by Matt Loucks and James Redpath. Scott Kennel and Joel Kincaid needed a tiebreaker to pull out a 9-8 (7-1) win at No. 2.

Loucks and Redpath each had straight-set wins in the top two singles positions, but Rowan suffered a 6-3, 6-3 loss to Eldar Dzhafarov at No. 3. In the No. 6 position, Kincaid clinched the match for the Pilots with his first collegiate dual singles victory. Strom and Gonzalez had wins in the No. 3 and No. 4 positions.

"James Redpath inspired the whole team with his energy today," Gross said. "And I was happy to see Joel Kincaid play as well as he did in both singles and doubles after the injury problems he's had."

Portland travels to Seattle, Wash. tomorrow to take on No. 36 Minnesota in a neutral-site dual. Match time is scheduled for 4:30 p.m. The Pilots will return to the Louisiana-Pacific Tennis Center on Sunday to play Gonzaga at 2:00 p.m.