Idaho suffers first volleyball defeat after opening with 5 wins

Idaho volleyball took its first loss of the season at the Missouri Tiger Invitational, dropping its second match of the day 30-27, 30-21, 29-31 and 32-30 to Missouri.

Kati Tikker led all players with 21 kills on a .259 hitting percentage, and Sarah Meek added 18 kills and five blocks for the Vandals (5-1).

Brooke Haeberle had her fourth double-double of the season with 11 kills and 14 digs for Idaho.

Missouri (4-2) outhit Idaho .286 to .244 and outblocked the Vandals 13-8.

In early action, Idaho defeated Arkansas State in four games 30-17, 30-26, 27-30 and 30-14. Brooke Haeberle led everyone with 20 kills and 13 digs, while Mandy Becker recorded 66 assists and 19 digs. Kati Tikker chipped in 19 kills and Meghan Brown recorded a career-high 27 digs.

In game four, Idaho outhit Arkansas State by an impressive margin, .515 to .105.

Haeberle and Meek were both named to the all-tournament team.

The Vandals open Big West play at 7 p.m. in Moscow on Thursday against Pacific.

• North Idaho knocked off Snow College at Ephraim, Utah in four sets to move to 1-1 in Scenic West Athletic Conference matches. Chanele Larsen and Kelcey Cavan both had 16 kills for the Cardinals, and Collese Dornan chipped in with 27 assists.

• Washington State picked up its first win of the year, beating Miami in five sets at the Loyola Marymount Furama Hotel Invitational in Los Angeles. The Cougars (1-6) ran into the host Lions later in the day, dropping a four-set match.

In the win over the Hurricanes, WSU was led by Jennifer Todd’s 25 kills and seven blocks. The victory was new coach Brian Heffernan’s first with the Cougars. In the fifth set, Miami jumped ahead 6-2 but WSU fought back to tie at six. The set went back and forth until the Cougars pulled ahead at 13-11. WSU got two big blocks from Kristin Kelley and Todd to pick up the win.

Against LMU, Washington State started strong, winning the first set 30-26, but that would be it. Kelly Rosin paced the Cougars in the loss with 19 kills and ten digs.

WSU, which finished second in the four-team tourney, was represented on the all-tournament team by Todd and Rosin.

• Gonzaga split a pair of matches at the Portland State Volleyball Classic to finish second in the tournament, knocking off Northern Colorado, but losing the championship to Oregon.

In the title match, the Bulldogs were swept by the Ducks, who hit .361 in the match. Gonzaga (3-5) got 11 kills from Christina Davis and 12 digs from Jessica Herrera in the loss.

Earlier in the day, Gonzaga hung on to beat Northern Colorado 30-21, 30-27, 25-30, 25-30 and 15-12. Again, Davis powered the Bulldogs attack with 26 kills, and Lauren Armas put together six service aces to help the effort.

• Host CC Spokane took both Saturday matches to end up 3-1 at the Inland Northwest Communications Invitational, but the Sasquatch couldn’t catch Columbia Basin, which finished the tournament at 5-0.

Sasquatch sophomore Sybresha Branch and freshman Vanessa Fleetwood from Mead made the all-tournament team.

• Whitworth took second at the Whittier/Oxy Invitational in Whittier, Calif., dropping the championship match 30-19, 30-20, 30-21 to La Verne (Calif.). La Verne currently sits second in the Division III national poll.

In an earlier match, Whitworth defeated Pomona-Pitzer 30-21, 30-20, 30-21 behind Natalie Danielson’s 12 kills and .495 hitting percentage. The Pirates dominated the third set, jumping out to leads of 13-3 and 24-10 on their way to the win.

Men’s soccer

Gonzaga scored two goals in the first five minutes on its win to an easy 5-1 home win over Montana State-Billings. The Bulldogs (2-2-0) jumped ahead in the fifth minute when UNLV transfer Mark Stock scored off an assist from John Reha.

Eighteen seconds later, Luke Miller scored his first goal, beating the Yellowjackets goalie to the far post to put Gonzaga up 2-0.

Miller struck again in the 29th minute when he took a pass from Stock behind the defense and beating the goalie.

Freshman George Josten capped the Bulldogs’ day with his first two goals in a Gonzaga uniform, both coming before the half. Dade Smith, making his first appearance as Gonzaga goalie, was perfect until MSU-Billings scored with 14 seconds remaining in the game.

The Bulldogs outshot the Yellowjackets 19-4.

• Whitworth outshot Bethel University (Minn.) 39-2 on its way to a 4-0 win over the Royals (3-1) in Spokane.

Four different players scored for the Pirates (3-1), which open up Northwest Conference play Saturday at home against George Fox.

Women’s soccer

Kaitlin Mitchell got NIC out to an early lead on an 11th-minute goal assisted by Kristen Kendall, but that would be all for the Cardinals, who fell 3-1 to CC Spokane in Coeur d’Alene. Angie Grandinetti’s 65th-minute goal put the Sasquatch ahead for good.

CCS also received goals from Megan Oksendahl in the 36th minute, and from Heather Howard in the 80th minute. Oksendahl added an assist on Grandinetti’s tally.

Golf

Ryan Miller shot a final-round 69 to help Gonzaga finish in seventh place at the Gene Miranda Falcon Invitational, held at the U.S. Air Force Academy.

Miller finished in a five-way tie for sixth with a 54-hole total of 218, five strokes off the pace. Miller started the final day in a tie for 26th before making his move.

The Bulldogs finished 16 shots behind first-place Southern Utah.

Cross country

It was all Gonzaga at the Sasquatch Invitational at CCS, as both the men and women took the team titles at the invite.

The Bulldog women had the top four finishers, led by Jill Semenza at 19:08.70. Jamie Schiel finished second at 19:28.20.

On the men’s side, Mark Currell of CCS led the way, finishing at 20:22, with Joe Miller of Gonzaga in second, 12 seconds back.