Welcome back to the Pilots Weekly RoundUP. Men’s cross country, women’s cross country and men’s soccer competed in the 2023 NCAA National Tournament. Women’s and men’s basketball entered the second week of their seasons and looked to start their campaign off with more wins.
Men’s Soccer:
After earning a first-round bye in the NCAA National Tournament, Pilot men’s soccer played Oregon State University at home in the second round on Sunday, Nov. 19. The Pilots lost 3-0, ending their postseason run. The Pilots finish the season with an overall record of 12-5-0.
Buba Fofanah, Nick Denley and Julian Conze earned College Sports Communicators (CSC) Academic All-District honors for their excellent performance on the field and in the classroom.
Men's soccer player slides towards the ball in a game against Oregon State University.
Women’s Soccer:
Although the soccer season has concluded, the Pilot women’s team continues to earn honors for their outstanding work on and off the pitch. Camille Ashe, Brooke Miller, Bre Norris, Nedya Sawan and Isabella Yakel also earned CSC Academic All-District honors.
Norris also earned a place in the first team for the All-West Region honors. Ashe and Sawan earned second-team All-West Region honors while Cally Togiai earned third-team All-West Region.
Women’s Basketball:
On Tuesday, Nov. 14, Pilot women’s basketball played away to Seattle University and won 89-61. Pilots Dyani Ananiev and Maisie Burnham both had double figures, scoring 20 and 17 points respectively. The Pilots notched seven blocks in total with Lucy Cochrane leading the defense with three blocks.
On Thursday, Nov. 16, women’s basketball returned to Chiles Center to play Warner Pacific University. The Pilots won 86-49 and scored 47 points off turnovers. Three Pilots scored double figures in the game. Ananiev had 20 points, Emme Shearer had 16 and Florence Dallow had 14. Defensively, Natalie Fraley led the team with 10 rebounds.
Burnham had five points against Warner Pacific University and surpassed 1,000 career points, becoming the 31st player to do so for the Pilots. Ananiev was named WCC Freshman of the Week for her two 20-point performances.
On Wednesday, Nov. 22, the Pilots traveled to play against California Baptist University and lost 71-66. Cochrane led the Pilots, scoring 17 points. Ananiev scored 13 points and Shearer scored 10.
Women’s basketball traveled to compete in the Las Vegas Holiday Classic and played Northern Arizona University in their first game of the tournament on Friday, Nov. 24. The Pilots lost the game 66-65 by a last-second shot. Shearer led the Pilots with 21 points, Cochrane followed with 15 points and Burnham tallied 10 points.
On Saturday, Nov. 25, women’s basketball played the University of Rhode Island in their final game of the Las Vegas Holiday Classic and lost 64-58. Burnham led the Pilots with 13 points. Kennedy Dickie helped out with 12 points and Cochrane followed with ten points.
With the loss, the Pilots have an overall record of 3-4. Ananiev also won her second WCC Freshman of the Week award for her recent top performances.
Women’s basketball will return home to play the University of Oregon on Thursday, Nov. 30 at 6 p.m.
Men’s Basketball:
Pilot men’s basketball played Tennessee State University on Wednesday, Nov. 15 and lost 75-65. The Pilots struggled to shoot the ball and committed 18 turnovers. The points leader was Tyler Robertson with 24 points.
On Saturday, Nov. 18, men’s basketball traveled to play the University of Nevada and lost 108-83. First-year Tyler Harris led the Pilots, scoring 19 points. Harris’s top performances in the past few weeks earned him two WCC Freshman of the Week awards.
The Pilots played their next game back at home on Saturday, Nov. 25, against Willamette University and won 107-84. The Pilots notched a total of 47 points from the bench and had four players score double figures. Alimamy Koroma led the Pilots with 23 points. Robertson tallied 17 points, Chris Austin added 16 points and Harris followed with 15 points.
On Tuesday, Nov. 28, men’s basketball traveled across the Willamette River to play Portland State University and lost 75-74 on a buzzer-beater. Robertson was the points leader for the Pilots with 28 points. The loss brings the Pilots’ overall record to 4-3.
Men’s basketball will play their next game at home against the University of Wyoming on Friday, Dec. 1, at 6 p.m.
Volleyball:
Pilot volleyball traveled to play Gonzaga University in the final game of their season on Thursday, Nov. 16. After going down two sets to nil, the Pilots inspired a comeback and won the game three sets to two. Maui Robins led the Pilots with a double-double, getting 22 kills and ten digs. Defensively, Kili Robins got 20 digs and Lia Hawken notched three blocks.
With the win, the Pilots finished the year with an overall record of 9-19 and a WCC record of 4-12. Maui Robins earned All-WCC second-team honors, Elin Larsson earned All-WCC honorable mention honors and Taina Kaauwai earned All-WCC freshman team honors.
Men’s Cross Country:
Pilot men’s cross country raced at the NCAA Cross Country National Championships in Charlottesville, Virginia on Saturday, Nov. 18. The Pilots placed 23rd overall with 529 points, beating their 24th overall NCAA ranking. The Pilots were led by Matt Strangio who placed 76th. The rest of the scoring five were Danny Abdala, Jona Bodirsky, Jonas Gertsen and Teddy Buckley who placed in 117th, 124th, 144th and 186th respectively.
The Pilots will now start preparing for the 2023-24 indoor track season that kicks off in December.
Women’s Cross Country:
After earning an individual at-large position for the national tournament, Laura Pellicoro represented the Pilot women’s cross country team at the NCAA Cross Country National Championships. She finished the women's 6,000-meter race in 41st place with a time of 20:06.8.
The Pilots will now also start preparing for the 2023-24 indoor track season.
Aidan Hyde is a sports reporter at The Beacon. He can be reached at hydea25@up.edu.
