WSU’s Paul wins Sundodger Invitational

Washington State University’s Haley Paul won the women’s invitational race at the Sundodger Invitational cross country meet Saturday at Lincoln Park in Seattle.

Washington swept the men’s and women’s team titles in the invitational division, while WSU and Idaho finished third and fourth among the women and fourth and fifth in the men’s division.

Paul ran the 6-kilometer women’s race in 20 minutes, 50 seconds – 12 seconds ahead of runner-up Dee Olson of Idaho. The Cougars and Vandals each had three other runners finish in the Top 25. Gonzaga’s Jill Semenza also broke into the top 25, finishing 12th.

UCLA’s Austin Ramos won the 8-kilometer men’s race in 24:00, 5 seconds up on former Community Colleges of Spokane runner Ty Axtman of Boise State. WSU’s Mike Heidt, running unattached, finished fifth in 24:09. Also in the top 25 were GU’s Joe Miller (18th) and Mead graduate Laef Barnes of UCLA (23rd).

In the open division, Spokane’s men finished seventh and Whitworth’s women 11th in the team scoring. Doug Blackburn of the Pirates was the top men’s finisher, taking sixth, while teammate Kristi Dickey was ninth in the women’s race.

Volleyball

Daidre Mendenhall had nine kills and hit .818 as North Idaho College hit .355 as a team and swept CC Spokane 32-30, 30-17 at the Best Western Peppertree Invitational at Sports USA in Spokane Valley.

Later in the day, the Cardinals swept Northeastern Junior 30-18, 30-14 behind 10 kills each from Mendenhall and Cintia Alessi.

The Sasquatch, in addition to their loss to NIC, beat Columbia Basin 19-30, 30-18, 16-14 behind the 10 kills of Nicolette Wittwer, a Mead grad.

•Senior outside hitter Lacey Bell registered 17 kills and Becky Jones added 12 as Gonzaga held off Northern Arizona 30-16, 21-30, 23-30, 30-21, 15-11 at the Fiesta Bowl Classis in Flagstaff, Ariz.

Bell hit .387 and Jones .360 as the Bulldogs survived the 22 kills of Ellie Butterfield.

In their second game, the 19 kills of Jones and the 17 of freshman Michelle Boevers were not enough as Texas-El Paso (10-2) rode the 16 kills of Kari Stacy and Christie Murphy to a 30-19, 23-30, 30-28, 30-15 victory.

With the loss, Gonzaga fell to 7-7.

•Jen Barcus tallied 11 kills and Natalia Owens nine as Washington State cruised past Oakland 30-16, 30-18, 30-25 at the Billikens Classic hosted by Saint Louis University.

Later in the day, Barcus led the way with 19 kills and nine blocks as the Cougars came back from two games down to overcome host Saint Louis 27-30, 19-30, 30-25, 30-22, 15-11.

Barcus was named to the all-tournament team.

•Natalie Danielson led the way with 14 kills and Carey Guhlke added 12 as Whitworth (6-2, 2-0) held off Lewis & Clark (4-5, 0-2) 30-17, 30-20, 27-30, 30-11 in Northwest Conference action in Portland.

•Christal Morrison finished with 18 kills and Sanja Tomasevic 14 as second-ranked Washington ran its season-opening winning streak to eight games, beating past No. 6 Hawaii (5-4) 30-18, 30-24, 30-28 in non-conference action in Honolulu.

Men’s soccer

Garga Caserta scored in the 67th minute to even things up as North Idaho tied Salt Lake at 1 in its Scenic West Athletic Conference opener in Salt Lake City.

•Jonathan Carlson scored in the 53rd minute of assists from Ali Seyedali and Todd Sabroski as No. 14 Whitworth (4-1, 1-0) held off Willamette (2-4, 0-1) 1-0 in its NWC opener in Salem, Ore.

The Pirates outshot the Bearcats 34-5, including 21-3 in the second half.

•Ben Rotert scored in the 66th minute to give CC Spokane (3-1-2) a 1-all tie with SW Oregon (2-0-3) in Northwest Athletic Association of Community Colleges action in Coos Bay, Ore.

Women’s soccer

Whitney Melton scored in the 62nd minute as North Idaho beat Salt Lake 1-0 in its SWAC opener in Salt Lake City. Makayla Desjarlais made four saves to earn the shutout for NIC.

•Marissa Williams scored less than a minute into the game and netted her second 21 minutes in as Whitworth (2-1-1, 1-0) blanked Willamette (2-3, 0-1) 2-0 in each team’s NWC opener in Salem, Ore.

•Ashley Imes’ goal in the 65th minute put CCS (3-1-2) up for good in a 2-1 win over SW Oregon (2-3) in NWAACC action in Coos Bay, Ore.