With the summer in full swing and the fall sports season quickly approaching, we thought it would be the perfect time to look back at some of the most memorable moments from past year for University of Portland Athletics. The historic year featured Pilots excelling in competition, in the classroom and in the community. Many Portland alums recorded monumental accomplishments as well.

Last week we featured a number of honorable mention moments, deserving of recognition.
 
This week we are highlighting the Top 30 moments (six per day beginning on Monday) for the 2017-18 school year. We will roll out the moments in chronological order throughout the week. The first six feature a pair of former Pilots having magical moments in Major League Baseball, women's tennis and women's soccer making an impact in the community, the best men's tennis single-season performance in program history, and men's cross country dominating the NCAA West Regional.
 
Feel free to reach out to us on social media to share some of your favorite moments, or you can also let us know if we missed anything, as 2017-18 was truly a great year to be a Pilot. Thank you for your support this year and beyond!
 
Top University of Portland Athletics Moments of 2017-18
Accomplishments listed in chronological order

Spring/Summer of 2017: After bouncing around the minors for 11 years, former UP pitcher Austin Bibens-Dirkx finally fulfilled his dream last summer when he reached the big leagues with the Texas Rangers. The 32-year-old Bibens-Dirkx went 5-2 in 24 appearances and six starts with the Rangers, and he out-dueled Washington ace Max Scherzer in just his second career start.
 


October 23: Men's tennis senior Michail Pervolarakis wins the 2017 Intercollegiate Tennis Association Northwest Regional title, becoming the first Pilot in school history to win the tournament. That began a remarkable run capped by Pervolarakis joining Travis Parrott (2002) as the only Pilot tennis players to qualify for the NCAA Singles Championships. Pervolarakis dropped a three-setter to eventual NCAA Champion, and fellow Cypriot, Petros Chrysochos. Yearend highlights included winning his second straight WCC Player of the Year Award, being named the UP Male Student-Athlete of the Year for the second consecutive season, and claiming the WCC Sportsmanship Award, which crosses all sports.  



September 20: Former UP stand-out catcher Rocky Gale produced a goose-bumps inducing moment when the part-time big leaguer belted his first career home run for MLB's San Diego Padres. A product of Salem, Ore., Gale has played in nearly 700 career games in the minors, and he has 14 major league games to his credit.
 


October: The Portland women's soccer team partnered with Portland Gear for breast cancer awareness month, and the campaign was a tremendous success as they raised close to $10,000, which was donated to the American Cancer Society. Fans flocked to buy the pink specially made t-shirts, and the team participated in a handful of initiatives to help raise breast cancer awareness.



November 10: In his debut season, men's cross country sophomore Emmanuel Roudolff-Levisse won the individual title at the NCAA West Regionals to lead the Pilots to their second ever West Region team championship, and first since 1993. After Portland's performance at the regional meet, head coach Rob Conner garnered West Region Coach of the Year for his fifth regional coaching honor.



Fall/Spring: Women's tennis was active in the community throughout the school year beginning with an annual trip to the St. Johns Tennis Center in October to work with local kids and teach the game of tennis. The team then put on a clinic in February at the Multnomah Athletic Club. Junior Radina Dimitrova recounted her story of how she ended up at Portland, before taking to the court for a clinic.