Cougars win volleyball opener

New coaches at Washington State and Eastern Washington Universities, whose teams were playing under new scoring rules, experienced mixed results in their teams’ season debuts Friday.

WSU’s Cougars rallied to pull out a five-set victory over Cal State Northridge for coach Andrew Palileo at the Boise State Bronco Invite.

But EWU was swept in three games by Denver, spoiling the coaching debut of Myles Kidd, during the Hilton Classic in Fort Collins, Colo.

WSU trailed 2-1 under new international scoring in which games go to 25 points instead of 30. But it won 25-12, 23-25, 19-25, 25-20, 15-10. Veteran junior Jackie Albright led three double-figure scorers in kills with 17, added 12 digs and three blocks. Emily Rooney had 12 kills and Brittany Tillman 10.

•The Eagles lost 25-18, 25-17, 25-22 to Denver, coming as close as 18-14 in the second game and leading 11-9 in the third. But the Pioneers broke a 21-all tie to complete the victory. Alysha Cook had nine kills and University High graduate Mandy Daniels added 13 digs at libero. Eastern plays twice today, against Arkansas and tournament host No. 17 Colorado State.

•Idaho played Middle Tennessee tough but lost its season opener 25-23, 23-25, 25-20, 25-23 in Murfreesboro, Tenn. Haley Larson had 14 kills and 12 digs, Sarah Conwell 12 kills and Kelsey Yonker 11 digs for Idaho.

•Gonzaga University split during the University of Montana tournament. The Bulldogs swept Bradley 25-18, 25-16, 25-17. They lost to the host Grizzlies 25-14, 18-25, 25-20, 25-18. Caitlin Cozad hit better than .600 in the matches and Elaina Renius had 28 kills.

Women’s soccer

Gonzaga University scored three quick goals that kept host University of Idaho winless during the Bulldogs’ 3-1 victory in Moscow. It was the second straight weekend the Vandals got down early.

“You can’t give teams a one, two, three-goal start and expect to win games,” said Idaho coach Pete Showler.

Ashley Riley scored 44 seconds into the match for Gonzaga (2-1-0) and assisted Sheridan Jones at 20:38. Lauren Dascenzo made it 3-0 at 33:52. The goals came against keeper Liz Boyden, a freshman from Ferris. Nicole McAllister finally got the Vandals (0-2-0) on the board at the 54:07 mark.

•Washington State (1-0-1) played host James Madison to a 2-2 tie during the JMU Comfort Inn Invitational in Harrisonburg, Va.

“We were under a lot of pressure in the first 20 minutes,” coach Matt Potter said. “Once we settled down we executed well and were able to go up a goal at halftime.”

Freshman Ali Fenter, a graduate of Mead, scored her first collegiate goal, as did sophomore Emma Stolz in rallying the Cougars from an early deficit. Fenter scored on a free kick to make it 2-1 with 43:29 played in the game, but James Madison scored 4 minutes later for the tie.

•Eastern Washington and Louisiana-Lafayette played to a 1-1 tie during the Miner Classic in El Paso, Texas. The outcome was a dramatic improvement over the Eagles’ season-opening 4-0 loss to Boise State.

“We played better than we did at Boise,” said head coach George Hageage. “We linked passes together and created opportunities.”

April Coffin scored in the 31st minute after blocking a Ragin’ Cajuns clearing attempt, chasing down the loose ball and tapping it into an empty net. Louisiana-Lafayette tied the score in the 71st minute. Neither the Eagles (0-1-1) nor Cajuns could score in two extra frames. Eastern plays Texas State on Sunday in its tournament finale.

Men’s soccer

Gonzaga University was no match for Creighton, losing 4-1 in Omaha, Neb., in the season opener for both schools. Creighton is ranked as high as sixth and no lower than ninth nationally in four preseason polls.

The Bulldogs tied the score on Tye Perdido’s goal in the second half, heading in a Bryan Mullaney cross at 53:08. But the Blue Jays answered and Jeff Thayer scored two late goals to finish off the win.

•Whitworth University forward John Prugh converted a penalty kick in the second overtime for a 2-1 win over Cal State East Bay in the opening match of the Northwest Capital Management Classic at Whitworth.

Prugh, scored after junior midfielder Brent Zahn was fouled in the box at the 104th minute. Prugh had set up the Pirates’ first goal when he drove hard by a defender and sent a short cross to the right to Caleb Barnhill for a 1-0 lead in the 26th minute. East Bay tied the match in the 40th minute.

Whitworth (1-0) had a 23-10 shots advantage in the match and advances to Sunday’s championship against Gustavus Adolpus, a 1-0 victor over Pacific Lutheran.