Area roundup: WSU wins Nike Cougar Challenge

Meagan Ganzer had 21 kills leading Washington State (8-2) to a 25-17, 21-25, 25-20, 25-18 win over Sam Houston State in the final of the Nike Cougar Challenge Tournament in women’s volleyball action at Bohler Gym in Pullman.

Ganzer had a hitting clip of .302 and pitched in six digs, two blocks and one ace. The senior was named the tournament MVP, her third MVP honor in as many weeks.

Camryn Irwin tallied 45 assists and Rachel Todorovich had nine kills and two blocks for the Cougars.

• Terran Poindexter helped lead the Gonzaga Bulldogs to a 2-0 record at the Hoosier Classic in Bloomington, Ind.

The Bulldogs (6-4) defeated the Eastern Illinois Panthers in their first match 22-25, 22-25, 25-18, 26-24, 15-5. After losing the first two sets, the Bulldogs tallied 16 kills with only three errors in the third set.

The Panthers then regained the momentum in the fourth set, but back-to-back kills from Kaprina Goodwin and Poindexter forced a fifth set.

After the five-set match, Gonzaga quickly swept the Niagra Purple Eagles 25-20, 25-15, 29-27.

• After a four-set loss to UNLV (17-25, 25-23, 25-21, 25-18) earlier Saturday, Eastern Washington wrapped up the UNLV Invitational with a thrilling five-set victory over Southern Utah, 23-25, 25-23, 26-28, 25-19, 15-9 at Las Vegas, Nev.

The Eagles (4-6) finished with a season-best .327 attack percentage.

Sophomore Lindsay Niemeier added her fifth double-double of the season with a season-high 41 assists and career-high 15 digs.

• Idaho topped Montana in three sets, defeating the Grizzlies 25-22, 25-14, 25-23, in the Montana Invitational at Missoula.

The Vandals (4-5) finished in second place at the tournament. Alicia Milo earned all-tournament team honors.

Milo had her second double-double of the season with 13 kills and 13 digs.

• Down two starters, Whitworth defeated Whitman twice to grab a third-place finish at the Colorado College Invitational at Colorado Springs, Colo.

The Pirates (4-4) were trailing Whitman 12-11 in the final set, but prevailed in the end with Kristine Kardell’s eighth kill to finish off the match 25-22, 21-25, 25-18, 20-25, 15-13.

Two hours later the teams met again for the third-place game but the Pirates were more than ready, sweeping Whitman 25-23, 25-20, 25-14.

• North Idaho defeated Linn Benton in the Gold Division final in the Inland Northwest Communications Tournament 17-25, 25-16, 25-20, 25-9, at Spokane.

Host CC Spokane split two matches on the second day of the tournament. Spokane lost to Central Arizona 18-25, 25-22, 25-23.

CC Spokane defeated Blue Mountain 28-26, 17-25, 25-22, 25-18.

Men’s soccer

North Idaho scored four goals in the first 14 minutes en route to an 8-0 victory over Bismarck State at Powell, Wyo.

The Cardinals’ (2-1-1) Kiefer Lee attempted only two shots, but scored both of them from in close.

Justin Johnson made five saves to preserve the shut-out. Mike Leptich, Jake Selaci, Ryan Krempels, Chad Ward and Ruben Amezuca all scored goals.

• Spokane CC (1-2-1) scored three goals in each period, shutting out Southwestern Oregon 6-0 at Spokane, earning its first victory of the year.

The scoring started off with a header by Aaron Gleason off of a corner kick from James Biddle. Tim Doggett also scored his first two goals of the season.

Women’s soccer

Emma Dolcetti scored two goals and Emily Eckmann added one of her own as Gonzaga lengthened their winning streak to four with a 4-0 shutout of Eastern Washington.

The Bulldogs (4-2-0) hadn’t had a four-game winning streak since 2007.

Trailing 2-0, the Eagles (0-6-0) gave up their third goal, a textbook header by Dolcetti from a corner kick from Sarah Rhodes.

• Nikki Caudill scored on all three of her shot attempts, Dee Dee Garbe had two goals and an assist and Spokane CC dominated Southwestern Oregon 11-0 at Spokane.

Southwestern Oregon only attempted one shot in the game compared to 29 for Spokane.

• Anna Valentine scored two goals and contributed two assists as North Idaho went on to defeat Bismarck State 8-0 at Powell, Wyo.

Demi Wignot scored two goals, both assisted by Valentine, within the 50- and 53-minute mark. Goal keeper Lauren Gibson had one save.

Cross country

Gonzaga men’s cross country upset 16th-ranked Oregon at Meadows Golf Course in Sunriver, Ore.

The Bulldogs outscored the Ducks 33-26. Willie Milam and Patrick Richie finished second and third, respectively.

Gonzaga coach Pat Tyson dismissed the notion that Oregon didn’t race four of their top six runners and sat their true freshmen in what was the season-opening meet for the Ducks.

“We’re redshirting Chris Boyle and we didn’t have Andrew Walker today,” Tyson said.