WSU, Idaho Volleyball Teams Bring Home Tournament Titles

Washington State recorded its seventh win and remained undefeated, beating Iowa State 15-3, 15-8, 15-5, Saturday night to win the Iowa State Invitational Tournament on Saturday in Ames, Iowa.

The No. 7-ranked Cougars, who will play its entire September schedule on the road, began the day with a 15-11, 15-9, 15-9 win over Iowa.

WSU’s Sarah Silvernail was named the tournament MVP while teammates Elis Arias and Shannon Wyckoff were voted onto the All-Tournament team.

One week earlier, Silvernail was named MVP at the Cougar Classic.

The Cougars will return to the Midwest Sept. 13-14, for the Mizuno USA Cup Tournament in Chicago where they play No. 6 Penn State, No. 8 Notre Dame and Clemson.

The University of Idaho rallied behind the sterling performance of senior Louisa Kawulok to upend the University of Wyoming and win the Cowgirls Tournament in Laramie, Wyo.

Kawulok, voted most valuable player of the two-day tournament, powered the Vandals with 15 kills and had 15 digs as the Vandals downed host Wyoming 15-9, 15-17, 15-12, 15-10.

Earlier in the day, Idaho dispatched Texas-San Antonio 15-9, 15-9, 15-8.

Eastern lost to Arizona 11-15, 15-3, 15-5, 15-3, but bounced back to defeat St. Mary’s College 15-13, 14-16, 15-13, 15-10 to finish the Arizona Wildcat Classic with a 3-1 mark in Tucson, Ariz.

Eagles sophomore middle blocker Kim Exner was named to the all-tournament team.

Exner had a game-high 24 kills against St. Mary’s. Toni Schwinn had 51 assists in the game.

In the Arizona match, Jessica Clish lead Eastern (3-2) with 21 kills.

Gonzaga fell to 4-5 with two losses at the Boise State Classic.

In their morning match, the Bulldogs fell to Sam Houston 15-12, 15-5, 15-10. In the nightcap, Oregon State beat Gonzaga 15-9, 15-3, 15-10. The Beavers improved to 8-0.

GU’s Christina Kubista was named to the all-tournament team.

Whitworth fell to Concordia University 15-5, 9-15, 15-10, 15-8 in Portland. Whitworth then traveled to Newburg, Ore., and played George Fox, suffering another loss, 15-2, 15-8, 5-15, 15-9. The defeats dropped the Pirates to 1-6.

Football

Seven running backs combined for 203 yards and rushed for two touchdowns in the Pine Bowl, as Whitworth beat its Alumni for the first time in three years 27-12.

The Pirates open their regular season Saturday, visiting defending NAIA Division II co-national champion Central Washington.

Women’s soccer

Washington State (1-1) played Portland close, but the Pilots (1-0) junior midfielder Justi Baumgardt’s two unassisted goals proved to be the difference in their 2-0 non-conference win in Pullman.

Portland, the defending NCAA runner-up, won all seven matches against WSU last season.

Jennifer Tissue scored two goals and Jen Dunford added an assist to lead Whitworth past Western Washington 2-0 at the CIAU/NAIA Simon Fraser Tournament in Burnaby, British Columbia.

The Pirates, who improved to 3-0, have scored 17 goals in four games while giving up just four.

In its season openers, Community Colleges of Spokane played to a 0-0 tie against Langara before Holly Vanwert scored two goals to give the Sasquatch a 5-1 win over Green River at the University College of Fraser Valley Tournament at Chiliwack, British Columbia.

Men’s soccer

Rich Wells scored Whitworth’s only goal as the Pirates (0-2) fell to Oregon State 7-1 at Whitworth.

Community Colleges of Spokane’s Paul Johnson scored three goals in pool play at the University College of Fraser Valley Tournament at Chiliwack, British Columbia, as the Sasquatch swept past Shoreline 3-0 and Green River 4-0.

Cross country

Washington State’s men’s and women’s teams opened their seasons with victories at the Whitman College Invitational in Walla Walla.

The Cougar men edged Gonzaga 23-26 behind Eric Kamau’s time of 27:00.2 minutes in the 8,000-meter race. It was the Nairobi, Kenya, runner’s first cross country race.

GU’s Francesca Fairbanks won the 5,000-meter race with a personal best 18:16.2, but WSU filled the next five spots to easily win the team title over the Bulldogs 20-41.

, DataTimes