By Kyle Cape-Lindelin
Despite losing the final game of their seasons, both the women's and men's basketball season's found great moments of success and both teams posted their best records in years.
The men's basketball team, led by head coach Eric Reveno, finished their season with a loss to Northern Colorado in the first round of the CollegeInsiders.com Postseason Tournament (81-73) but finished with a new school record for wins, 21-11.
"This season was a milestone for our school and shows that we're going in the right direction and the plan is working. I enjoyed working with these high-character and high-skilled players and watching them grow. They brought us here," said Reveno on the team's best record since the 1994-1995 season.
"We had a great season, this is first time we got a a victory on the WCC champs (St. Mary's) and looking back it is quite impressive to have a 21 win season under our belts," assistent men's coach Mike Wolf said.
The women's basketball team finished off their season with a 75-44 loss in the first round of the Women's Basketball Invitational against University of Washington. They finished the season with a 18-13 overall record, the most wins in a season since the 1997-1998 season.
"We had a lot of positives, we won 18 games, finished where we predicted we would, won some good games and lost a couple of close ones. I thought it was a great building year heading into next season," head women's basketball coach Jim Sallers said.
The men's team says goodbye to seniors Nik Raivio, T.J. Campbell, Taishi Ito, Robin Smeulders and Ethan Niedermeyer, coach Reveno's first recruiting class at UP.
Campbell concluded his two-year career at UP after transferring from Glendale Community College, averaging 12 points and five assists over his career at UP.
Campbell was the driving force behind the Pilots offense with electrifying dunks and burying clutch 3-point jumpers. Campbell was named to the All-WCC first team this season as well as being named WCC Player of the Week three times, a new UP record.
"These seniors changed the culture, they have elevated us to this new level of success that we haven't experienced for a long time here and I appreciate their hard work to make it happen," Reveno said. Campbell agrees with his head coach that hard work achieved success.
"I've only been here for two years but I've seen these guys take great leaps, myself included, because of the work we've put in and the confidence our coaches have had in us," Campbell said.
Raivio wrapped up his three- year career after transferring from Santa Rosa Community College, averaging 14.3 points, 2.5 assists and 5.3 rebounds for his career as a Pilot, despite missing 15 games this season with an Achilles strain. Raivio also finished his career with 1130 points, being one of the most consistent scorers throughout his Pilot career.
Smeulders finished his career averaging 11 points and six rebounds for the Pilots while also joining the 1000 points scored club. Smeulders was named to the All-WCC first team for his work in the middle during the season.
"I'm happy I made this achievement during my career here even though it wasn't really a goal I had, it shows how much the coaches pushed me and helped make me the player I am," Smeulders said.
Niedermeyer ends his career known for his defensive presence and high-energy game. This helped earn him a starting job dating back to his freshman season with the Pilots.
Taishi Ito ended his career as a three-year team captain who was known for his great effort on the court and his leadership on and off.
The women's team bid farewell to their lone senior Laiken Dollente. She will go down as the number three scorer in UP's history with 1874 points while averaging 15.4 points, 3.3 assists and 3.5 rebounds per game for her career.
Dollente's play will be marked in the record books and goes down as one of the best to play at UP being the most accurate free-throw shooting (.883) and 3-point shooting (.404) in school history. She also finished fifth in career points per game with 15.3 and ranks seventh in assists with 400.
"Dollente was one of the most valuable players ever, incredibly consistent. We always knew she would come and play her hardest and best to win games," Sallers said.
Dollente also was named to the All-WCC first team, an honor she received three out of her four years. She has garnered all-conference honors all four years at UP.
Dollente was second in the nation in free-throw accuracy and was named WCC Player of the Week two times this season.
"We had a lot of potential as a team but having so many injuries set us back. We still had a great season getting 18 wins and that's on the coaches for driving us," Dollente said.
The seniors on each team weren't the only ones carrying the load for both teams. Junior Jared Stohl made up for Raivio's absence in the starting lineup by averaging 11 points and leading the nation in 3-point percentage at .519. He also moved into a second place tie on UP's most three pointers made in a season with 98. Stohl was also named an WCC honorable mention, the second honorable mention he has received in his career.
Fellow junior Luke Sikma also was a huge force in a sixth man role for the Pilots, averaging eight points and eight rebounds per game while coming up with many clutch plays and defensive stops. Sikma was also named WCC honorable mention.
Sophomore Alexis Gannis helped the Pilots as well, averaging 9.5 points and 8.3 rebounds per game. Gannis was named WCC honorable mention and also led the WCC in offensive rebounds per game (three) and field goal percentage (.609).
The season had many high moments for both teams as the men knocked off cross-state rival Oregon in thrilling fashion 88-81 on Nov. 21. The men also crushed prestigious UCLA 74-47 and nationally ranked Minnesota 61-56 before falling to NCAA Tournament-bound West Virginia 84-66 in the championship round of the 76 Classic Tournament on Nov. 29.
Their play in the tournament helped earn them a brief top 25 national rating. The Pilots also beat St. Mary's at home in an overtime thriller 80-75 and beat San Diego 72-57 in the first round of the WCC Tournament. The men also lost close, hard-fought battles against rival Gonzaga 81-78 on Jan. 9 and eventual WCC champion St. Mary's 77-72 on Jan. 16, both games going down to the final minutes.
The women's team won big games against Northwest rivals Portland State 75-71 on Nov. 24, Boise State 76-65 on Dec. 6, and at Washington State 79-53. The Pilots also remained competitive in the WCC conference, finishing 7-7, and earning a four seed against Santa Clara, who won 74-61 despite the Pilots leading at the half.
