EWU advances to volleyball final

Eastern Washington (3-2) won twice in the Marriott University Park Wildcat Classic in Tucson, Ariz., on Friday to earn a meeting with Arizona (5-0) for the volleyball tournament title tonight.

The Eagles (3-2) opened with a 25-19, 25-17, 20-25, 26-24 win over Houston (1-4) as Allison Reinstein hit .444 and had seven blocks.

Eastern followed that with a 19-25, 25-23, 25-22, 25-21 win over Nevada (1-4). Chenoa Coviare and Haley Hills had 11 kills apiece, with Hills getting nine digs and Coviare six blocks.

•Washington State ran its record to 4-0 by sweeping Missouri 25-20, 25-20, 25-22 at the Utah Valley La Quinta Inn & Suites Invitational in Orem, Utah. Sophomore Meagan Ganzer and junior Brittany Tillman combined for 24 kills with Ganzer hitting .571. The Cougs take on No. 17 Utah this morning and Utah Valley tonight.

•Sarah Conwell had 27 kills and 15 digs, both career highs, as Idaho (3-1) handed Loyola Marymount its first loss in a five-set thriller at the Alexis Park Classic in Las Vegas. The Vandals won the first two games and pulled out the fifth game 15-13. Alicia Milo had 13 kills, Katie Tribley had 48 assists and Anna McKinney had eight blocks. The Vandals play UNLV and No. 9 UCLA today.

•Layne Brosky had 12 kills and Kaprina Goodwin 10, but Gonzaga (1-3) dropped a 21-25, 25-17, 28-26, 25-15 decision at Portland State.

•Whitworth (1-4) picked up its first win of the season while splitting two matches at the Pikes Peak Challenge in Colorado Springs. The Pirates swept Benedictine (Ill.) 25-18, 25-17 before falling to No. 18 Colorado College 25-21, 25-19, 25-15.

•North Idaho College finished the first day of the Salt Lake tournament 3-0 in pool play with 2-0 wins over Snow College, Western Wyoming and Missouri State Westplains. The Cardinals lost their first crossover match to Western Nebraska, though, 25-19, 25-12. The Cardinals were led by Marketa Ajnzlova’s 23 kills and Fei Gao added 17. Aubrey Chesnut contributed 11 blocks. NIC plays Arizona Western today but has already qualified for bracket play.

Women’s basketball

Gonzaga begins its quest for a sixth straight West Coast Conference title with three home games beginning Jan. 9, but first the Bulldogs face a daunting non-conference schedule.

The Zags open Nov. 13 at South Dakota State, which went 32-3 in its first year of D-I and made the second round of the NCAA. The home opener is three days later against Idaho, with USC coming Nov. 19 and Washington Nov. 22. A road game at powerhouse Stanford completes three straight Pac-10 games.

Four other NCAA teams are on the schedule, Montana (Dec. 11) and Santa Barbara (Dec. 30) at McCarthey Athletic Center, and a trip to Las Vegas Dec. 19-20 to face Baylor and Texas A&M.

North Dakota, Eastern Washington (Dec. 1), Cal State-Northridge and UC Irvine are the other home games.

With eight non-conference games at home, the Zags play 15 games at McCarthey. Five of the last seven league games are on the road. The final home game is Feb. 20.

Men’s soccer

Joel Schilperoort scored in the 83rd minute as Gonzaga (1-0-1) earned a 1-1 tie with Ohio State (0-0-1) at the Buckeyes’ Wolstein Classic. Scott Barnum made 11 saves to keep the Bulldogs in the game after allowing a goal in the 17th minute. The Bulldogs play Penn State Sunday morning.

Women’s soccer

Senior captain Sari Morrison, playing in her hometown of Boise, scored twice to rally Idaho to a 2-1 win over Idaho State in the seventh Governor’s Cup. Normally a defender, Morrison tied the game late in the first half and then scored the winner on a penalty kick midway through the second. Liz Boyden (Ferris) had three saves to get the win.

•Four players scored and Callie Bergstrom (Mt. Spokane) made six saves as Whitworth kicked off its season with a 4-0 victory over St. Olaf College at Northfield, Minn. Junior Sidonia David scored just more than 3 minutes in and Sarah Berenston in the 24th minute, the first career goal for both. Cory Druffel (Pullman) and Kelly Lunde connected in the second.