College volleyball: North Idaho stays alive at NJCAA national tournament

Penny Gwynn, Brenna Meehan (Post Falls) and Brooke Bell combined for 41 kills Friday as North Idaho College defeated Hill (Texas) College 3-1 to stay alive at the NJCAA Division I national volleyball tournament at Casper, Wyoming.

Brittany Gay (Lake City High) added 37 digs, and she, Meehan and Hannah Christianson had 14 digs apiece as the Cardinals (22-15) advanced to Saturday’s match for ninth place. NIC will play Hutchinson (Kansas) at 9 a.m.

NIC began the day with 3-1 victory that eliminated Yavapai (Arizona). Meehan had 17 kills and 15 digs, Gwynn 13 kills and three aces, and Gay 38 assists.

Big Sky tournament

Tressa Lyman finished with 20 kills and 12 digs as Idaho State (23-9) advanced to the championship match with a 25-23, 25-16, 24-26, 25-19 victory over Idaho at Flagstaff, Arizona.

Kaela Straw (Freeman High) and Katelyn Peterson combined for 27 kills for the Vandals, who finished 15-15. Meredith Coba added 27 assists and Jenna Ellis 23 digs for Idaho.

The Bengals will meet host and top-seeded Northern Arizona (27-4) in Saturday’s championship.

Pac-12

Kyra Holt finished with 18 kills and 12 blocks as Washington State (16-14, 5-13 Pac-12) registered a 3-1 win over Oregon State (5-23, 3-15) at Corvallis, Oregon.

McKenna Woodford added 11 kills and a career-high 17 digs while Haley MacDonald had 45 assists and 10 digs for the Cougars. WSU’s Casey Schoenlein had a career-high 11 kills and equaled her career best with eight blocks.

Courtney Schwan and Tia Scambray had 12 kills apiece, and Katy Beals added 23 assists and 17 digs to lead second-ranked Washington (26-2, 16-2 Pac-12) to a 3-1 win over Oregon (14-13, 8-10) at Eugene.