Unbeaten Cougars Polish Off Uo

Jennifer Stinson led the Washington State University volleyball team with 17 kills and 12 blocks as the Cougars remained perfect on the season with a 10-15, 15-10, 15-9, 15-5 win over Oregon on Saturday night at Eugene.

The win improved the USA Today/ AVCA sixth-ranked Cougars to 14-0, 12-0 in Pacific-10 Conference games. Their 14-0 record is the team’s best start since 1978. UO fell to 7-4, 0-2.

Much like Friday’s five-game win at Oregon State, Washington State coach Cindy Fredrick went to her bench after her team’s slow start.

In the second game, the ninth-year coach called on reserve setter Samantha Spink, who replaced second-team All-American Stephanie Papke. Spink, a Penn State transfer from Coeur d’Alene, rallied the team in a close game which saw the score tied at 7.

The Cougars took their first lead in the match, 8-7, on a WSU block. Stinson gave them a 12-7 lead.

In the third game, WSU trailed 7-3 but battled back to tie the score at 9. Stinson, a junior middle blocker, gave the Cougars a 10-9 lead and they never trailed after that.

“I think Sam (Spink) is doing a great job and she brought a tremendous amount of enthusiasm to the court tonight,” Fredrick said.

Spink finished with 36 assists while Elis Arias and Wendy Rouse both added 14 kills. Oregon played without its top hitter, junior Madeline Ernst, who was ill.

At Pocatello, Idaho, Kim Exner finished with 20 kills and a .286 attack percentage as Eastern Washington finished its first weekend of Big Sky Conference play with a 10-15, 15-9, 15-9, 15-5 triumph over Idaho State.

Lora Botha added 16 kills while hitting .324 for the Eagles. Botha and Jessica Clish each had nine of Eastern’s 21 blocks. Teammates Kim Maxwell totaled 55 assists.

The win improved the Eagles to 8-2 overall, 2-0 in conference matches. The Bengals dropped to 3-10, 0-2. The match seemed to have the makings of an upset after ISU came out and won the first game, landing 23 kills to Eastern’s 18.

Kadie Leonhardt led the Bengals with 15 kills.

Eastern plays its first Big Sky Conference home matches this week, meeting Montana on Thursday and first-place Montana State on Saturday.

At Storrs, Conn., after dropping the first game, the University of Idaho volleyball team took care of University of Connecticut 10-15, 15-0, 15-7, 15-9 to win the Connecticut Tournament.

Idaho junior middle blocker Jessica Moore was named the tournament’s Most Valuable Player. She finished with 14 kills, six digs, four service aces and a .344 attack percentage against UConn.

The 15-0 second game marked the first time the Vandals had held an opponent scoreless since 1995 and only the second time in seven seasons.

Beth Craig and Kyle Leonard also earned all-tournament honors.

Anna Reznicek, Idaho’s 6-foot-2 sophomore setter, contributed eight kills, 35 assists, 13 digs and a .538 attack percentage.

In a Saturday morning match, Idaho swept Harvard 15-5, 15-5, 15-10.

Ricks College stunned four-time NJCAA national champion College of Southern Idaho 17-16, 15-13, 15-11 in the championship game of the Community Colleges of Spokane Inland Northwest Communications Invitational.

The Vikings, 7-0 in the two-day tournament, were led by tourney MVP Mari Burningham and Erin Heers, who also was voted to the all-tournament team.

Host team CCS (3-4 in the tournament, 7-8 overall) lost to Lewis & Clark College in the fourth-place game 15-13, 15-11. Sasquatch setter JoEne Heimbigner, named to the all-tourney team, totaled 47 assists in three games.

North Idaho College finished sixth among the nine teams after defeating Olympic 15-7, 15-3 in a consolation game.

Men’s soccer

Travis Johnson’s header into the right side of the net allowed visiting George Fox University to edge Whitworth College 1-0.

Johnson’s goal came at the 31:00 mark off an assist by Joe Crown. The Pirates fell to 3-2-0 overall, 1-2 in NCIC play. Goerge Fox improved to 5-1-0, 3-1-0.

Women’s soccer

Chrisanne Roseleip scored off an assist by Marilyn Piduch to give Whitworth College the only goal it would need in a 1-0 win over visiting George Fox University. The goal came at 54:50 and improved the Pirates to 2-3-1 overall, 2-1-0 in NCIC. George Fox fell to 4-3-0, 1-2-0.

Cross country

Bernard Lagat’s 24-minute, 17.04-second time paced Washington State to a first-place finish in the men’s division 8K race at the Big Cross Invitational race at Pasco. WSU’s Jon Murray (24:50.64) and Brad Treat (25:03.26) finished second and third, respectively. In the women’s division 5K race, Marie Davis (17:47.88) paced the University of Oregon to a top finish. Kristin Ritzenhaler was the Cougars’ top finisher at fifth (18:16.06). WSU finished third overall behind the University of Washington.

In the men’s non-Division I 8K race, Community Colleges of Spokane’s Shawn Beitlespacher’s 25:29.21 time paced the Sasquatch to first place. In the women’s non-Division I 5K race, Pacific Luthern won behind Helen Jelimo’s 18:41.46 time.

Erika Colin (19:20.33) was fifth overall as her CCS team finished third overall.

, DataTimes