Idaho ticks off win as Tikker hits peak

The University of Idaho came back from a 2-1 deficit Friday night to defeat Mississippi State (4-2) in a five-set volleyball match at the Missouri Tiger Invitational in Columbia.

Kati Tikker led Idaho (4-0) with 13 of her game-high 20 kills in the final two games. Sarah Meek added 15 kills and eight blocks for Idaho while Mandy Becker had 51 assists and 10 digs. Brooke Haeberle led the defense with 15 digs.

Idaho also tallied 16 aces, nine coming from sophomore Saxony Brown, the second-most for one match in school history.

•Christina Davis led Gonzaga with 29 kills as the Bulldogs (2-3) captured their second victory of the season with a four-set victory over Portland State (4-2) at the Portland State Volleyball Showcase.

The 29 kills were the fifth-best four-game match total in Gonzaga history, tying Jennifer Goetz and Kelley Cunningham.

GU’s Emily Gihring contributed 43 assists.

Game scores were 29-31, 30-21, 30-26, 30-24.

•Eastern Washington (1-4) defeated San Francisco in four sets en route to its first match victory of the season. The Dons (3-5) captured the first game 30-24, but the Eagles responded accordingly, winning the next three games 30-28, 30-24, 30-20.

•The University of Cincinnati (5-0) defeated Washington State (0-5) in four games at the Loyola-Marymount Furama Hotel Invitational in Los Angeles, Calif.

Kelly Rosin led the Cougars with 15 kills and added four blocks. Jennifer Todd added 12 kills and a match-high 15 blocks.

•Whitworth advanced its record to 5-0 by defeating Claremont-Mudd-Scripps in four games and Redlands in three at the Whittier-Oxy Invitational at Los Angeles.

The Pirates defeated Claremont-Mudd-Scripps 30-22, 34-32, 28-30, 31-29 and Redlands 30-26, 30-18, 30-24.

Natalie Danielson led Whitworth against Claremont-Mudd-Scripps with 15 kills. The Pirates totaled more than 100 digs in the match.

Against Redlands, junior outside hitter Julie Marsh led the Pirates with 13 kills and senior middle blocker Katy Schrader added seven kills. Whitworth plays Pomona-Pitzer and Laverne today.

Men’s soccer

Lonnie Williams assisted Mike Wold as North Idaho (3-0-1, 2-0 Northwest Athletic Association of Community Colleges) defeated visiting Edmonds 1-0.

Wold, who has scored in all four matches the Cardinals have played, tallied the goal at 52 minutes.

Women’s soccer

Kristen Kendall had two first-half assists and one in the second half, leading North Idaho to a 3-0 victory over visiting Edmonds (2-1).

Kaitlin Mitchell and Jari Petrie scored in the first half while Jamison Walton had the only goal of the second half. North Idaho (3-1) advanced its NWAACC record to 2-0.

•Washington State’s Alix Rustrum and Cailin McCutchan both scored as the Cougars (2-1-1) defeated New Mexico (3-2-0) 2-0 in the opening match of the Loyola Marymount-Holiday Inn LAX Tournament at Los Angeles.

WSU goalkeeper Katie Hultin made two saves to record her third shutout of the season. Hultin has yet to surrender a goal this fall in 335 minutes in net.

Rustrum, WSU’s leading scorer, put away the game-winning goal at the 41-minute mark, heading in a Carmen Anderson cross. The junior forward led the Cougars with four shots, two on goal.

•Jami Tullius scored a first-half goal as the University of Texas-El Paso topped Eastern Washington 1-0 at the opening match of the Highlander Classic at Riverside, Calif.

The Miners improved to 4-1 on the season while the Eagles dropped to 2-3.

EWU was outshot 15-5 in the match as goalkeeper Tiera Como recorded eight saves. Como has 40 saves on the year.

•Whitworth (1-2) was defeated 3-1 in a non-conference match by visiting Claremont-Mudd-Scripps (4-0).

Jael Hagerott assisted Marissa Williams, who scored the Pirates’ goal in the third minute.

The Athenas remained undefeated by scoring on all three of their shots on goal, despite the fact Whitworth had an 11-3 advantage in that category.

•Gonzaga (3-2-0) fell 3-0 in a non-conference match to Brigham Young at Provo, Utah.

The Cougars (3-3-0) outshot the Bulldogs 16-4.

Men’s golf

Gonzaga opened its season at the Gene Miranda Falcon Invitational at the USAFA, Colo. The Bulldogs shot a 298-292 for a 36-hole total of 590 for seventh place (out of 15 teams) heading into today’s remaining 18 holes.