Area roundup: Eagles secure berth in Big Sky volleyball tourney

Despite falling 3-1 to Portland State Saturday night at Reese Court in Cheney, the Eastern Washington volleyball team wrapped up fourth place in the Big Sky Conference and the final seed to the conference tournament.

Megan Ellis had 17 kills and 12 digs as the Vikings (16-12, 11-4) beat the Eagles 26-28, 25-23, 25-17, 25-11.

Idaho State can still tie Eastern Washington (13-13, 9-6) for fourth place, but the Eagles beat the Bengals in the teams’ two meetings this season.

The conference tournament will be held Nov. 25-26 in Portland.

Lindsey Petroni had 30 digs to lead the Eagles. It was Petroni’s third match this season and sixth of her career with 30 or more digs.

Lindsay Niemeier notched her conference-leading 16th double-double of the season for the Eagles with 22 assists and 10 digs. EWU’s Cora Kellerman had 13 kills.

The Eagles wrap up the regular season at home against Sacramento State on Friday.

• Gonzaga’s struggles continued in a three-set loss to San Francisco (15-12, 7-7) in a West Coast Conference match in San Francisco.

Game scores were 25-18, 25-23, 26-24.

Terran Poindexter had her second double-double of the year with 11 kills and 10 digs for the Bulldogs, who fell to 7-19 overall and 1-14 in the WCC.

GU closes out its season Thursday against Brigham Young in Provo, Utah.

• Idaho closed out the regular season with a 25-19, 19-25, 25-23, 25-20 Western Athletic Conference win over Nevada (5-21, 2-12) in Reno, Nev.

Allison Walker had 20 kills and six digs and Alicia Milo had 15 kills and eight digs to lead the Vandals (16-11, 10-4).

Next up for Idaho is the WAC tournament, set for Nov. 21-23 in Las Vegas.

• Tarah Murrey had 17 kills as No. 5 California beat No. 11 Washington 25-21, 25-23, 22-25, 25-23 in a Pac-12 Conference match in Seattle.

Krista Vansant had 13 kills and 10 digs and Bianca Rowland added 12 kills and five blocks for the Huskies, who play Friday at Utah.

Cross country

Two weeks after a disappointing sixth-place finish at the Pac-12 Championships, the Washington State men took fourth place at the NCAA West Regional Championships at the Stanford Golf Course in Palo Alto, Calif.

The fourth-place finish was the Cougar men’s best showing in 12 years.

Andrew Kimpel and Jono Lafler led the way. Kimpel (North Central) completed the 10,000-meter course in 29 minutes, 46 seconds to take 14th place out of 172 runners. Lafler was 16th in 29:47.

Also scoring for WSU were Justin Englund (33rd, 30:14), Todd Wakefield (41st, 30:31), and Andrew Gonzales (45th, 30:47).

The top two teams at regionals automatically qualify for the NCAA Championships Nov. 21 in Terre Haute, Ind. The Cougars, however, can earn one of the 13 at-large bids, which will be announced on Monday.

The WSU women, led by Caroline Austin’s 40th-place finish, took 14th as a team.

The Gonzaga women took 15th place. The Bulldogs were led by Lindsey Drake, who finished the 6,000-meter course in 21:11, good for 34th place.

The GU men were 18th. Tate Kelly (84th, 31:08) was the Bulldogs’ top finisher.

Hannah Kiser finished 13th in 20:48 to lead the Idaho women to a 13th-place finish. Although she didn’t automatically advance, she is in contention for an at-large bid to the national meet. The Vandals men, led by Barry Britt’s 30th-place finish (30:12), took 12th place as a team.

Eastern Washington’s Tonya Turner took 64th place in 21:44. Simon Sorensen (93rd, 31:24) was the Eagle men’s top runner.

• Whitworth’s Joy Shufeldt finished in fifth place at the NCAA Division III West Regional Championships in Claremont, Calif., and qualified for the national meet.

Shufeldt completed the 6,000-meter course in 21:48.9. The Whitworth women took 11th place overall.

The Pirate men, led by Aaron Jenkins, took fifth place. Jenkins took 14th, finishing the 10,000-meter course in 25:51.5. He was one spot away from automatically qualifying for nationals, but could still earn an at-large bid.

• Community Colleges of Spokane sophomore Mikel Elliott finished first at the NWAACC Championships at Legion Golf Course in Everett.

Elliott finished the 5,000-meter course in 18:07, 16 seconds ahead of the second-place finisher. Shayle Dezellem also finished inside the top 10 for CCS, taking 10th in 19:05.

The Sasquatch women took fifth place as a team.

The men took second behind Everett. All seven of CCS’ men’s runners posted personal-best times.

Justin Holden took fifth for CCS, finishing the 6,000-meter course in 25:10. James Currell was 10th in 25:21.

Women’s soccer

Shelby Solomon’s 35th-minute goal gave Peninsula (16-2-3) a 1-0 win over Community Colleges of Spokane in the quarterfinals of the NWAACC tournament at Port Angeles, Wash..

The loss ends the Sasquatch’s season. CCS finished with a 15-6 record.

Women’s basketball

Freshman Stacey Barr led four players in double figures with a game-high 20 points as Idaho edged Corban 77-74 in the Vandals’ season opener in Moscow, Idaho.

Krissy Karr added 13 points, six assists and six steals for Idaho (1-0).

The Vandals play at North Dakota on Monday and host Gonzaga on Thursday.

• Ashleigh Kelman-Poto had 12 points and 13 rebounds as North Idaho beat Gillette 68-48 at the College of Southern Idaho Tournament in Twin Falls, Idaho.

Katie Buskey had 10 points and Julia Salmio added eight points and eight rebounds for the Cardinals (1-1).

North Idaho’s next game is Friday against the NIC All-Stars.