Welcome back to this week's Pilots Weekly RoundUP. Fall break is right around the corner and teachers have started to pile on the work for UP students. With the tough demands of school and the fall athletics season, the Pilots endured through the sixth week of school.
Men’s Soccer:
Pilots men’s soccer traveled to California to play Santa Clara University in their first away conference match last Friday. Going into the game, they were ranked 7th in the nation and had an overall record of 6-2-0.
Santa Clara scored the only goal of the game in the 35th minute and the Pilots lost the game 1-0. They were unable to find the back of the net despite outshooting Santa Clara thirteen shots to seven. The loss dropped their record to 6-3-0.
The Pilots men’s soccer team stayed in California over the weekend and bounced back with a 2-0 win in a non-conference away game on Tuesday, Oct. 10 against the University of California, Berkeley. The Pilots took the lead in the 14th minute through Jacob Babalai, who got his ninth goal of the season. Shortly after, the Pilots doubled their lead in the 17th minute with a bottom corner finish by Buba Fofanah, marking his seventh goal of the season. The Pilot’s win against UC Berkeley brings their overall record to 7-3-0.
The Pilots will return to Merlo Field to host Oregon State University in a non-conference match on Saturday at 7 p.m.
Women’s Soccer:
Pilots women’s soccer went into last week with a record of 7-2-2 and traveled to play Loyola Marymount University (LMU) last Saturday.
The Pilots came out on top against LMU, adding a 1-0 win to their season. The winning goal was scored by Violet Rademacher with a header in the 49th minute. This was her third goal of the season and was assisted by Cally Togiai. With the win, the Pilots’ record improved to 8-2-2 and gave them their ninth shutout of the season. They are tied for first in the nation for fewest goals conceded.
Women’s soccer will host the University of San Diego on their return to Merlo Field on Saturday at 4:30 p.m.
Volleyball:
Pilots volleyball played Pepperdine University at home last Saturday and lost in a 3-set sweep. The loss dropped their record to 6-11 overall. Leading the attack for the Pilots was Elin Larsson who finished with 11 kills. Leading the defense was Kili Robins who recorded nine digs.
Pilots volleyball play their next game away against Pacific University on Thursday.
Members of the volleyball team celebrate in the Chiles Center.
Men and Women’s Cross Country:
The Pilots men and women’s cross country teams took a rest this past weekend. On Tuesday, Oct. 3, men’s cross country runner Cohen Williams was named WCC Runner of the Week after his personal best performance at the Charles Bowles Invitational.
The Pilots will compete in two races this weekend—the Nuttycombe Invitational on Friday, Oct. 13 in Madison, Wisconsin and the Linfield George Oja Invite in Salem, Oregon on Saturday, Oct. 14.
Women’s Tennis:
The women’s tennis team traveled to Eugene, Oregon to compete at the Duck Invitational last weekend.
In the singles matches last Friday, Kylie Canubida was the sole Pilot to pick up a win, beating Washington State University’s Tiffany Phout 6-4, 6-3.
In the doubles matches last Friday, the Pilots picked up four wins from the duo teams of Aleksandra Dimitrijevic/Rimona Rouf, Alaia Rubio Perez/Nadine Arbaizar Martinez, Meagan Pearson/Rose Watanabe and Kylie Canubida/Iye Onoja. Dimitrijevic and Rouf defeated Portland State University 6-2. Rubio Perez and Arbaizar Martinez defeated Portland State University 7-6 (3). Pearson and Watanabe defeated Portland State University 6-3. Canubida and Onoja defeated Washington State University 6-3.
In the singles matches last Saturday, Rouf and Pearson both picked up wins for the Pilots. Rouf defeated Yoshimura of Portland State University in her match 7-6 (5), 7-6 (2). Pearson beat Ohara of Portland State University 6-0, 6-4. The Pilots were unable to win any of their three double matches last Saturday.
Last Sunday marked the conclusion of the Duck Invitational and the Pilots played 5 singles matches. Again, Canubida was the only Pilot to win her match beating Egan of Portland State University 6-4, 6-3.
Pilots women’s tennis will travel to Stanford University on Saturday to participate in the ITA Northwest Regional Championships held from Oct. 14-17.
Men’s Tennis:
Pilots men’s tennis opened their fall season last Friday at the ITA Northwest Regional Championships in Seattle, Washington. The Pilots picked up nine singles wins and one doubles win in the first round. With the wins, a total of six Pilots advanced to the singles round of 16.
Four Pilots, including Luka Vukovic, Nikola Keremedchiev, Nicolas Ocana and Maxim Groysman advanced to the singles quarter-final stage of the tournament. Groysman, Ocana, and Keremedchiev were able to win their quarter-final matches advancing them to the semi-finals. Groysman beat Gonzaga University 6-1, 6-2. Ocana beat University of Oregon 7-6, 3-6, 6-3.
Due to the tournament's structure, Keremedchiev played teammate Vukovic in the quarter-final and beat him 6-3, 6-4. The semi-finalists qualify for the ITA Northwest Super Regionals held at Stanford on Oct. 20-22.
In the doubles tournament, Vukovic and Ocana beat Seattle University 8-5 in the quarter-finals to reach the semi-finals, but were then knocked out by a team from Portland State University.
Pilots men’s tennis will now prepare for the ITA Northwest Super Regionals alongside the women’s team.
Rowing:
The Pilots rowing team kicked off their fall season last Sunday winning three races at the American Lake Fall Classic in Lakewood, Washington.
The Pilots won the First and Second Varsity Eight races beating Seattle Pacific University and the University of Puget Sound with times of 18:55.4 and 20:05.8 respectively. The Pilots finished first, third and fifth in the Varsity Four race with times of 21:31.7, 22:20.2 and 22:48.8.
The Pilots’ next race is on Sunday Oct. 29 at the Portland Fall Classic at Vancouver Lake.
This concludes the fifth Pilots Weekly RoundUP. Keep your eyes peeled for more news and updates about University of Portland Fall Athletics when school resumes after fall break.
Aidan Hyde is a sports reporter for the Beacon. He can be reached at hydea25@up.edu.
