GU knocks off No. 25 Saint Mary’s

Michelle Boevers finished with 19 kills and a .400 hitting percentage as Gonzaga dropped the first game but came back to win the next three and stun No. 25 Saint Mary’s 25-30, 30-16, 30-27, 30-25 Saturday in West Coast Conference volleyball in the Martin Centre, the Bulldogs’ first win over a ranked opponent in more than 12 years.

Becky Jones also had 19 kills, Lacey Bell finished with 15 kills and Briawna Mueller finished with nine blocks as Gonzaga (10-11, 2-3 West Coast Conference) beat its first ranked foe since upsetting No. 22 Texas Tech in four games Sept. 11, 1993.

Missie Stidham led Saint Mary’s (13-4, 4-1) with 25 kills and eight blocks as the teams combined for 32 total blocks – 16 apiece.

“Jessica Vanzant finished with 16 kills and a .500 hitting percentage as Portland State (15-5, 5-2) swept Eastern Washington (13-6, 4-3) 30-26, 30-26, 30-21, PSU’s first win over the Eagles since Halloween 1985.

Vanzant also added four blocks and Kaylene Munson had eight kills and a .400 attack percentage as the Vikings hit .320 for the match.

The Eagles were led by Lizzy Mellor’s 14 kills.

“Three players reached double figures in kills as No. 20 Whitworth (15-2, 10-0), with 55 kills, more than doubled the 27 kills of Lewis & Clark (6-12, 2-8) in a 30-22, 30-25, 30-19 win in Northwest Conference action in the Whitworth. Fieldhouse.

Natalie Danielson (15 kills; .357 hitting percentage), Julie Marsh (14 kills, .500 attack percentage) and Brittney Bower (10 kills) led the way as the Pirates won their 10th straight match.

Andrea Chase led Lewis & Clark with six kills.

“Cintia Alessi and Konae Purcell led a North Idaho rally as the fifth-ranked Cardinals came back from a game down to knock off Salt Lake 30-26, 21-30, 22-30, 30-24, 15-10 in Scenic West Athletic Conference action in Salt Lake City.

Alessi and Purcell each finished with 13 kills and Alessi added 19 digs as NIC (24-4, 4-1) withstood the match-high 18 kills of Salt Lake’s Kristie Kidman to earn the win.

Collese Dornan added 11 kills and Daidre Mendenhall nine for NIC. Kayal Mainer led the Cardinals with 21 digs.

Women’s soccer

Ashley Fisk headed in Penelope Crowe’s corner kick in the 68th minute, her fifth tally of the season and the game’s only goal, as Whitworth (5-4-3, 4-3-2) edged George Fox (3-9, 1-8) 1-0 in NWC action at Whitworth.

Whitworth’s Jenn Miller needed to make just two saves as the Pirates outshot the Bruins 28-4.

“Stephanie Johnson and Katlyn Laughlin scored second-half goals as Community Colleges of Spokane beat Lane 2-1 in NWAACC action in Eugene, Ore.

Spokane (8-2-3, 27 points) outshot Lane (3-8-2, 11 points) 8-3 and currently sits second in the NWAACC’s East division.

“Makayla Desjarlais made seven saves and two Salt Lake goalkeepers combined for 11 saves as North Idaho tied the Bruins 0-0 in Scenic West Athletic Conference action in Coeur d’Alene.

NIC (10-6-1, 5-2-1) outshot Salt Lake 16-9, including a 9-1 edge in the first half, but couldn’t get anything past Bruins goalies Cindy Sahburg and Amanda Lang.

Men’s soccer

Six Pirates scored, in addition to a Bruins own goal, and three others had pairs of assists as No. 10 Whitworth (10-1-1, 7-0-1) routed George Fox (2-10, 1-7) 7-0 in NWC action at Whitworth Field.

After George Fox put one in its own net in the 12th minute, Niko Varlamos (14th minute) and Todd Sabrowski (41st minute) added first-half goals. Chris Johnson (51st), Tucker Hopp (51st), Matthew Friesen (55th) and Jordan Lister (80th) all added second half goals.

Ali Seyedali, Jonathan Carlson and Curtis Flournoy each had two assists and goalie Kevin Bostock made three saves to earn the shutout.

“Chris Zalud scored twice in the first half as Community Colleges of Spokane beat South Puget Sound 4-1 in Northwest Athletic Association of Community Colleges action in Olympia, Wash.

Chad Thornton added a goal and an assist for the Sasquatch (7-4-2, 23 points), who sit third in the NWAACC’s East Division.

“Garga Caserta scored in the 89th minute to tie it and assisted on Manuel Arceo’s goal in the eighth minute of added time as North Idaho rallied for a 2-1 win over Salt Lake in Scenic West Athletic Conference action in Coeur d’Alene.

NIC (11-1-3, 5-0-1) outshot Salt Lake 21-8 but couldn’t get anything by Alberto Santiago until the dying moments en route to their 10th consecutive win.

Mike Hildebrandt made four saves for NIC.

Cross country

Washington State’s men finished 20th in the White race and the Cougars women 22nd in the Blue race at the NCAA Pre-National Cross Country Meet at the LaVern Gibson Championship Cross Country Course in Terre Haute, Ind.

Haley Paul led the Washington State women, earning 21st place. Paul finished the 6,000-meter course in 20 minutes, 47 seconds, up from a 112th-place finish at last year’s Pre-Nationals race.

Woody Favinger led the men, finishing in a time of 24:48 on the 8,000-meter course, good for 64th place.

“Montana’s Allie Brosh, a Sandpoint grad, took home first place at the Eastern Washington Invitational in Cheney.

Brosh finished the 5,000-meter course in 18:31.6. Eastern was led by a third-place finish from Camille Gibb, who finished in 18:56.3.

Mellie Ballou was the top Gonzaga finisher, crossing the finish line in 20:15.3, good for 19th place, while Allix Lee-Painter was Idaho’s top finisher, finishing in 20:28.7, a 22nd-place finish.

Karen DeMartini led Washington State with a 25th-place finish, crossing the line in 20:42.1.

On the men’s side, John Timeus of Eastern Washington took home first place, finishing the 8,000-meter course in 25:30.7, nearly 12 seconds ahead of Gonzaga’s Joe Miller, who finished in 25:42.4.

Dan Lucero was WSU’s top placer, crossing the finish line in 14th place in a time of 27:14.4, while Ian Chestnut led Idaho’s contingent with a 17th-place finish in a time of 27:20.7

“Andrew Fuller’s second-place finish led the Community Colleges of Spokane men to a first-place finish at the Runners Soul Bigfoot Open at Spokane Falls.

Fuller finished the 8,000-meter course in 25:28, 28 seconds behind Calgary’s Geoff Kerr. The Sasquatch finished with 32 points, 24 ahead of Calgary, which finished with 56.

Doug Blackburn led Whitworth’s men with a fourth-place finish in 25:59 as the Pirates finished in fourth with a total of 80 points.

On the women’s side, Whitworth’s Kristi Dickey finished third, covering the 5,000-meter course in 18:40 to lead the Pirates to a second-place finish.

Whitworth finished with 56 points, 34 behind Calgary, which had a first- and second-place finish from Shannon Popowich and Lindsay Winter, respectively.