AREA ROUNDUP: Cougs open with solid win

Washington State won its opening match Friday at the Baden Cougar Challenge volleyball tournament in Pullman, defeating Portland 30-22, 30-23, 30-24.

The Cougars were led in the front row by Tara West, who had 16 kills and a .517 hitting percentage. Jackie Albright added kills and Brittany Johnson eight for WSU (1-0). The Cougars hit .319 as a team (53 kills and 10 errors in 135 attempts).

Several Cougars had double digits in digs, one of several factors in holding Portland to a .101 hitting percentage. Kelly Hyder had 17 digs, Johnson 16, Stephanie Weishaar 11 and Albright 10. WSU setter Maureen Perez had 43 assists.

Also, Portland defeated Northern Colorado 3-2 and South Dakota State defeated Northern Colorado, also 3-2.

Today, WSU plays Northern Colorado at 1 p.m., followed by South Dakota State vs. Portland. The event wraps up with WSU vs. South Dakota State at 7 p.m.

“Gonzaga won its season opener for the first time since 2001, defeating Canisius 3-0 at the Ruby’s Montana Invitational in Missoula.

The Bulldogs had 51 kills and hit .400 in the 30-26, 30-21, 30-13 victory.

Seniors Becky Jones and Briawna Mueller had 13 and 11 kills, respectively, to lead Gonzaga. Jones added three digs, two assists and three block assists. Mueller hit .421 and had a match-high four block assists.

Gonzaga plays UC Irvine and Montana today.

“No. 12 California defeated Idaho 30-20, 30-23, 30-15 at Berkeley, Calif.

Haley Larsen had 10 kills for the Vandals and Debbie Pederson added nine to go with a team-high .353 hitting percentage. The Vandals had as many kills as attack errors (29) and hit .000.

“Eastern Washington lost twice at the Sheraton Four Points Wildcat Classic in Tucson, Ariz.

Arizona swept the Eagles 30-25, 30-18, 30-24. EWU’s Mandy Daniels had 21 digs and Hayley Hills had a career-high 15 kills.

In an earlier 3-0 loss to Saint Mary’s, Hills led the Eagles with eight kills.

EWU hit -.033 against Saint Mary’s and .008 against Arizona.

EWU plays Utah State today.

Track and field

Former Washington State standout Bernard Lagat advanced to the semifinals of the 1,500 meters at the world championships in Osaka, Japan.

Lagat finished in 3 minutes, 41.68 seconds to place third in his heat.

Joachim Olsen, a former University of Idaho star representing Denmark, qualified for the shot put final with a throw of 20.62 meters. His mark was fourth best.

In early results from the women’s heptathlon, Washington State’s Diana Pickler was seventh after the first event, running 13.34 in the 100 hurdles.

Golf

Cass Bagley shot 28 on the front nine and finished with an 8-under-par total of 64 to take the first-round lead at the 2007 Odom Spokane City Championship.

Shaun Murray was in second place with a 66.

Bob Lewis led the seniors with a 67, followed by Jerry Traynham at 68.

The round was played at Esmeralda. Today’s round will be at Downriver and Sunday’s final round at The Creek at Qualchan.