Pirates win in opener
Kaimi Rocha and Amanda Grumbach led Whitworth with a combined 26 kills as the Pirates won their first NCAA tournament match since 2005, 3-0 over Concordia-Moorhead (24-7) in the opening round of the NCAA Division III volleyball tournament Friday in St. Paul, Minn.
Rocha, who was named Northwest Conference player of the year, tallied a match-high 16 kills, while sharing the lead with 18 digs. In the opening set, Rocha hammered back-to-back kills as Whitworth (18-6) rallied from set-point to score three straight and win 26-24.
Grumbach was second for the Pirates with 10 kills and 15 digs, taking over in the third set with five kills as the Pirates closed out the Cobbers 25-20 in the final frame.
Ka’ipo Rocha added eight kills and two aces, while Brynn DeLong had seven kills for the Pirates in the win.
Whitworth will play St. Olaf (Minn.) at 1:30 p.m. today.
Leading CMC was Jenna Green, who finished with 15 kills and 12 digs.
• Alix Klineman finished with 18 kills and eight digs and Carly Wopat added seven kills and a .700 hitting percentage in No. 2 Stanford’s (21-2, 12-2) 3-1 victory over Washington State (6-17, 0-13) in Pac-10 play in Pullman.
Meagan Ganzer had 17 kills and Rachel Todorovich added 12 kills and seven digs as the Cougars tied the match at 1-1, winning the second set 25-23.
The Cardinal quickly rebounded, though, winning the next two sets, 25-19, 25-13, to close out WSU.
• Tarah Murrey tallied a match-high 23 kills and added 10 digs and No. 4 California (22-2, 12-2) completed a season sweep of No. 11 Washington (18-6, 7-6), winning 3-1 in Pac-10 action in Seattle.
Kindra Carlson had 22 kills to lead UW, but after taking a 1-0 lead, the Huskies fell flat, losing the next three sets, 25-23, 25-21, 25-21.
Becky Perry added 15 kills for UW, but had a .146 hitting percentage as the Huskies finished at a .212 percentage for the match.
Women’s soccer
Sarah Martinez scored a pair of goals in the opening 25 minutes and Washington (12-8-1) continued the rout, beating Oklahoma 4-0 in the opening round of the NCAA Division I tournament in Portland.
The Sooners (12-8-3) managed just 13 shots in the match, with UW keeper Jorde LaFontaine-Kussmann recording five saves to earn the shutout.
The Huskies will play host Portland at 1 p.m. Sunday in the final match of the weekend, with the winner advancing to the super regionals. Portland – the No. 2 seed in the bracket – shut out Texas-San Antonio 9-0 in other tournament action on Friday.