Area roundup: Gonzaga beats No. 23 Pacific in volleyball

Jordan Gasser and Savannah Blinn provided a fierce 1-2 punch in Gonzaga’s 25-18, 21-25, 25-23, 25-23 victory over No. 23 Pacific in a West Coast Conference volleyball opener in Spokane.

Gonzaga (10-4 overall) scored its first victory over the Tigers (9-3), having lost six previous times since the schools first met in 1997.

Blinn had 14 kills on .321 hitting and Jordan Gasser 12 on .391.

Paige Folger had 10 blocks, all on block assists. The Bulldogs had a season-high 17 blocks.

It was the first time since 2009 that Gonzaga won its conference opener.

• Sixth-ranked Washington edged Washington State in five sets in a Pac-12 opener. Set scores were 22-25, 25-15, 25-11, 20-25, 15-4.

WSU (11-2) was led by the 14 kills and 10 digs from Kyra Holt while Taylor Mims had 11 kills, hitting .409, and added five blocks. Haley MacDonald collected 40 assists and 10 digs.

 The Huskies (11-0) were led by 14 kills and 20 digs from Courtney Schwan while Tia Scambray had 13 kills and 13 digs. Melanie Wade led the match with nine blocks and had eight kills.

• Jessica Gilbert had 13 kills on .480 hitting and Eastern Washington (6-6) swept to a 25-22, 25-17, 25-23 victory over North Dakota (11-6) in a Big Sky opener in Cheney.

Allie Schmacher added 11 kills on .250 hitting as the Eagles hit .290.

• Tinke Bierma and Becca Mau both hit at a .333 clip in collecting 12 and 10 kills, respectively, and Idaho (4-9) won its Big Sky opener at home in Moscow with a 20-25, 25-18, 25-19, 26-24 victory over Northern Colorado (4-10).