Cougars give Sun Devils the slip
Jackie Albright’s service ace in the fifth game Saturday put the finishing touches on Washington State’s 25-19, 24-26, 13-25, 25-17, 15-10 come-from-behind win over Arizona State (11-5, 1-3) in Pac-10 volleyball in Pullman.
Sophomore Meagan Ganzer had a second straight solid effort at the net with 20 kills for the Cougars (14-1, 3-1). Cassie Robbins added 14 kills, Albright 13 and Brittany Tillman 11.
Oceana Bush (Lewis and Clark High) set a Washington State record with 39 digs.
•First-year Gonzaga coach Dave Gantt won his first West Coast Conference opener and did it in a 25-12, 25-18, 26-24 sweep of visiting Portland (4-12). The Bulldogs (5-8) won their first conference opener since 2005 by the attacking play of Layne Brosky, who slammed 14 kills.
•Idaho (6-9, 2-1 Western Athletic Conference) needed five games to drop Fresno State (8-7, 1-2), but the play of Sarah Conwell lifted the Vandals to the 22-25, 25-16, 22-25, 25-16, 15-10 victory in Moscow. Conwell led the Vandals with 24 kills, 18 digs and seven blocks in their home opener.
•The Whitworth Pirates (5-12, 1-5) rebounded from a rough Friday match to sweep visiting No. 19 Puget Sound (10-4, 4-2) 25-18, 25-17, 25-19 in the Northwest Conference. The host Pirates were led by Kaimi Rocha’s 12 kills, Bree Riddle’s 24 assists and Ariana Obert’s 18 digs to snap a six-match losing streak.
•Three Washington (14-0, 4-0) hitters finished with 10 or more kills in a 25-15, 25-13, 25-16 Pac-10 win over No. 18 Arizona (12-3, 1-3) in Seattle. Jenna Hagglund tallied 39 assists and 11 digs for the No. 3 Huskies.
•Kaylee Ponze and Callie Johns led No. 1 North Idaho College (21-3, 3-0) to a 25-9, 25-18, 25-13 sweep of visiting Colorado Northwestern (4-12, 0-3). Ponze finished with nine kills and five aces.
Cross country
Teegan Schoch led the University of Idaho to a third-place finish in the Cardinal division by winning the 5,000-meter Charles Bowles Willamette Invitational in Salem, Ore. The sophomore defeated the field by more than 20 seconds in 17 minutes, 26.92 seconds, and the Vandals finished behind Chico State and Augustana with 116 points. Markus Geiger led the Vandals in the 8,000 men’s race in 24:23.43. The UI men finished fourth.
The Whitworth women finished one spot behind Idaho with 142 points, led by Dana Misterek, and the Community Colleges of Spokane men finished in sixth place in the Gold division, paced by Anthony Brown’s 24:39.
•The top five Gonzaga women finished within 7 seconds of each other to lead the Bulldogs to a second-place finish at the Montana Invitational in Missoula. Corrina O’Brien led GU in 18:52 for 5,000. Crossing just after the 19-minute mark was Lauren Bergam, who took 15th to round out the team’s top five.
Eastern Washington’s Kyle King took second in the 8,000 men’s race, finishing in 24:56. His Eagles finished fourth with 90 points, just ahead of Gonzaga, which finished fifth.
Junior hockey
Kyle Bacon scored four goals to lead the Spokane Braves (6-3-0-1) to an 8-5 win over the Beaver Valley Nitehawks (3-5-1-0) in Kootenay International Junior Hockey League game at Eagles Ice-A-Rena.
Women’s soccer
Sarah Berentson’s rebound of a saved ball in the 89th minute was the difference for Whitworth (8-2, 5-1), which outlasted Linfield College (6-3, 3-2) 1-0 in a Northwest Conference home match. The Pirates held the edge in shots, 18-2, but they didn’t break through until Berentson’s rebound goal.
•The Olympic (5-3-1, 3-2-1) offense scored three goals in the first half to shut out Community Colleges of Spokane (3-2-2, 3-1-1) 3-0 in Bremerton, Wash.
Men’s soccer
Despite allowing Linfield (3-6-1, 2-3 NWC) to come back and tie the match late in the second half, Whitworth (6-2-1, 4-1) scored in the 74th minute to win 3-2 at home. Elly Bulega scored twice for the Pirates, and Keith Kirsch scored the winner on a header to the far post.
•Visiting Community Colleges of Spokane (4-6, 4-1 NWAACC) outlasted Olympic (0-6, 0-5) 2-1 at Bremerton, Wash., in a rough match that featured six yellow cards and a fighting ejection.