Aggies defeat Cougars for Nike Invite title

The Washington State women’s volleyball team took second place after being swept by Texas A&M (7-0) in the championship of the Portland Nike Invitational Saturday at the Chiles Center in Portland. Game scores were 27-25, 25-15, 25-18.

The Cougars’ Meagan Ganzer led the way with 12 kills and two aces. Camryn Irwin added 22 assists.

WSU advanced to the title match after beating Butler (1-6) 25-16, 25-12, 23-25, 26-24 earlier in the day.

The Cougars (5-2) will host the Nike Cougar Challenge at Bohler Gym, starting Friday.

• Host Gonzaga rebounded after a loss to Washington with a 22-25, 25-20, 25-22, 24-26, 15-10 win over Portland State at the Northwest Challenge.

The Bulldogs (4-3) were led by Laura Day, who had 19 kills and 16 digs.

Gonzaga fell to the eighth-ranked Huskies (5-0) 27-25, 25-15, 25-20 earlier in the day.

Next up for GU is the Hoosier Classic in Bloomington, Ind., starting Friday.

• Allison Walker had 11 kills and four blocks as Idaho snapped a three-game losing streak with a 25-20, 25-19, 25-21 win over Georgia Southern (3-5) in the Vandals’ final game at the Varney’s Invitational in Manhattan, Kan.

Next up for Idaho (2-4) is the Montana Volleyball Tournament in Missoula, starting Friday.

• Eastern Washington held its own against Arizona, but fell to the Wildcats (5-1) at their Wildcat Classic in Tucson, Ariz. Game scores were 26-24, 25-23, 25-23.

Chenoa Rossi-Childress had seven kills and three blocks and Cora Kellerman had 12 digs to lead the Eagles (3-4), who will play in the UNLV Invitational in Las Vegas, beginning Saturday.

• Whitworth swept University of Wisconsin-Stout, then fell to 22nd-ranked Puget Sound at the final day of the Puget Sound Invitational in Tacoma.

The Pirates beat Wisconsin-Stout 26-24, 25-15, 25-11. Kaimi Rocha and Abi Hedlund each had 11 kills.

In the second game, a matchup between top-25 teams, Jackie Harvey had 13 kills and 18 digs to lead Puget Sound (3-0) past Whitworth (1-2) 25-22, 19-25, 25-16, 26-24.

The Pirates play again Friday at a tournament in Colorado Springs, Colo.

Men’s soccer

Chad Ward scored off an assist from Eliseo Santana early in the second half and North Idaho College held on to beat Treasure Valley 2-1 at the Cardinal Classic in Coeur d’Alene.

The Cardinals take on Chemeketa Community College at 5 p.m. today.

Women’s soccer

The Whitworth women’s soccer team remained winless after a 3-0 loss to Washington University in Bloomington, Ill.

The Pirates (0-2) play on Sept. 14 against Whitman in Walla Walla.

• North Idaho scored early and cushioned its lead with two late goals en route to a 3-0 win over Treasure Valley at the Cardinal Classic in Coeur d’Alene.

Demi Wignot, Anna Valentine and Aubree Mercier scored for NIC, which plays Chemeketa Community College at 3 p.m. today.

Junior hockey

The Spokane Chiefs scored five third-period goals to come back and beat host Everett 6-4 in Spokane’s second preseason game.

Brenden Kichton scored twice in the third period for the Chiefs, who play today at Portland.

Cross country

The Washington State men and women dominated the field at the Inland Northwest Cross Country meet hosted by Eastern Washington University and Gonzaga at Mead High School in Spokane.

The Cougars men had nine of the top 10 finishers, including champion Justin Englund, who finished the 6,200-meter course in 18 minutes, 32.6 seconds.

The Washington State women weren’t quite as dominant, but took the team title with 31 points. Ruby Roberts was WSU’s top finisher, running the 4,200 course in 14:25.3, good enough for fourth place. Allix Potratz-Lee, of Oiselle, was the champion with a time of 14:09.