Eastern beats GU in five

Eastern Washington snapped a two-match losing streak to Gonzaga with a five-game, non-conference volleyball victory at the Martin Centre on Monday night.

The Eagles (8-9), after winning the first two games before seeing the Bulldogs (6-14) battle back to send it to a deciding fifth game, prevailed 25-14, 25-20, 15-25, 24-26, 15-11.

In the fifth game, neither team held more than a two-point advantage until a Hayley Hills kill earned Eastern a 14-11 lead en route to the final four-point advantage.

Hills and Alysha Cook had 16 kills apiece for the Eagles, while Ashley Hamilton contributed 48 assists. Mandy Daniels had 13 digs and Chenoa Coviare seven blocks.

For Gonzaga, senior middle blocker Elaina Renius had a match-high 24 kills and a .487 hitting percentage. Denise Van de Mortel had 49 assists and Paige Dillingham 12 digs to lead the Bulldogs.

•Hills’ 20-20 night not only helped Eastern knock off Big Sky Conference leader Portland State on Friday, but also earned the junior outside hitter a share of the conference player of the week honor.

Hills had a career-high 21 digs to go with 20 kills in the Eagles’ four-game victory. She leads the Big Sky in kills per set at 4.38, a figure that ranks her 13th nationally. It is Hills’ second weekly honor this season and third of her career.

Football

Zach Clow of Whitworth, who averaged 39.4 yards on seven punts and put two inside the 20-yard line, is the Northwest Conference special teams player of the week.

The sophomore from Blanchard, Idaho, had a long of 56 yards in a 31-28 loss at Linfield.

Men’s cross country

Nick Gallagher of Whitworth, whose third-place finish was the highest by a Division III runner in the PLU Invitational, is the Northwest Conference men’s athlete of the week.

The sophomore timed 15 minutes, 59.51 seconds for 8K in leading the Pirates to a second-place team finish.