Idaho beats WSU, wins tournament

Kati Tikker and Amanda Bowman finished with 14 kills apiece as Idaho swept Washington State 30-27, 30-22, 30-21 to take first place at the Baden Cougar Challenge in volleyball action Saturday in Pullman.

Haley Larsen added 10 kills and a .444 hitting percentage as the Vandals (7-2) finished the tournament 3-0.

Natalia Owens led Washington State (4-3) with eight kills as the Cougars, who were held to a meager .096 hitting percentage against the Vandals, finished 2-1.

Earlier in the day, the Vandals rode the hot hand of Meghan Brown en route to a 28-30, 30-21, 30-21, 31-29 victory over Oral Roberts.

Brown had 20 kills, and Erin Curtis finished with 17 while finishing with a stellar .452 hitting percentage.

Earlier, WSU won the opening game by beating Buffalo 30-23, 24-30, 30-24, 30-25 behind Owens’ 19 kills.

Idaho’s Brown was named the tournament Most Valuable Player and teammates Curtis and Tikker were named to the all-tournament team.

WSU’s Owens and Jessie Camp were also named to the all-tournament team.

Idaho will play at the Utah Tournament, Friday and Saturday at Salt Lake City. Conference play begins Sept. 22.

•Becky Jones and Michelle Boevers each recorded 25 kills and Lacey Bell added another 14 as Gonzaga (6-4) salvaged its final game of the Ruby’s Invitational in Missoula by beating UC Davis (2-6) 24-30, 30-20, 30-23, 32-20.

Earlier in the day, Jones racked up 22 kills, Bell 14 and Boevers 13 as the Bulldogs fell to New Mexico 27-30, 30-28, 30-24, 22-30, 15-11.

•Eastern Washington cruised past South Florida 30-27, 30-19, 30-19 to finish second at the Best Western Invitational in Tampa, Fla.

Earlier in the day, the Eagles (7-3) swept Appalachian State 32-30, 30-18, 34-32.

Ashley Jensen and Lizzy Mellor were named to the all-tournament team.

•Natalie Danielson connected for 16 kills, but Whitworth was swept by Puget Sound 30-21, 31-29, 30-25 in non-conference action in Tacoma.

•Collese Dornan tallied 12 kills and a .500 hitting percentage as North Idaho swept Community Colleges of Spokane 30-12, 30-18, 30-18 at the Inland Northwest Communications Tournament at Spokane Falls CC.

CSS lost its other match to Clackamas, 30-27, 30-18, 18-30, 32-31.

NIC won its other two matches, beating Clackamas 30-16, 30-16, 30-15 and sweeping Columbia Basin 30-11, 30-15, 30-26.

Dornan and Cardinals outside hitter Cintia Alessi were named tournament all-stars. Also named all-stars were CCS outside hitter Nicki Wittwer, middle blocker Emily Wittkopf and right-side hitter Vanessa Fleetwood.

•Washington, ranked second in the country, rode a .565 team hitting percentage and crushed Sam Houston St. 30-11, 30-17, 30-18 to earn a share of the Doublewood Inn Classic title in Fargo, N.D.

Earlier, Christal Morrison and Brie Hagerty each tallied 14 kills as the Huskies (7-0) routed Wisconsin-Green Bay 30-18, 30-19, 30-14.

Men’s soccer

Iona scored three second-half goals en route to a 3-0 win over Gonzaga on the final day the Stephen Hensor/Joe Zaher Classic in Corvallis, Ore.

The Bulldogs (2-1-1) outshot the Gaels (1-3) 13-7, including a 9-5 edge in shots on goal, but were unable to beat Iona goalkeeper Tom Orbacz, who finished with nine saves.

•Todd Sabrowski and Niko Varlamos scored in the first half, and Whitworth took advantage of a second-half own goal to beat St. Thomas 3-2 in the first day of the Whitworth Invite.

The Pirates (3-0) outshot the Tommies (1-1) 17-7, including 14-3 in the first half.

•Keith Kirsch and Kevin Bourland each bagged a pair of goals as CC Spokane crushed South Puget Sound 5-0 in Northwest Athletic Association of Community Colleges action at SFCC. The Sasquatch (2-1-2, 2-0-1) also got a goal from Dan Landry as they outshot SPS (0-4-1, 0-3-0) 27-4.

•Four different Cardinals scored as North Idaho upended Dixie State 4-0 in Scenic West Conference action in Coeur d’Alene.

Peter Hiel, Garga Caserta, Derek Taylor and Mike Vredenberg all scored for NIC (4-0-2, 1-0-0).

Women’s soccer

Ashley Fisk scored twice as Whitworth (1-1-1) earned its first win of the season by beating Northwest Nazarene (2-4) 2-0 in non-conference action at Whitworth.

•Katlyn Laughlin had a goal and assisted on Steffannii Johnson’s goal as CC Spokane (4-1-1, 2-0-1) beat Lane CC 2-0 in NWAACC action at SFCC.

Johnson scored in the 36th minute and Laughlin in the 49th as the Sasquatch outshot the Titans 23-9.