WSU sweeps Alabama State in volleyball

The Washington State volleyball team opened play in the Cougar Challenge with straight-sets wins over Alabama State and Seattle Friday night in Pullman.

Behind a balanced attack led by Rachel Todorovich, who had eight kills, the Cougars (3-2) beat Alabama State 25-16, 25-9, 25-9. Jaicee Harris had 16 kills and six digs to lead WSU to a 25-8, 25-13, 25-16 rout of Seattle (3-3) in the Cougars’ second match.

• Gonzaga cruised to victories in the first two sets, then faltered, handing San Diego State (3-2) a 17-25, 22-25, 25-22, 29-27, 15-13 win at the Gonzaga Invitational.

Savannah Blinn had 20 kills and Jordan Gasser had 23 digs and seven kills for the Bulldogs (1-3).

• Ashley Cox and Shelby LeDuff had 11 kills apiece as UC Riverside (3-1) handed Eastern Washington its fifth straight defeat to open the season, beating the Eagles in straight sets at the Gonzaga Invitational. Set scores were 25-19, 25-16 and 25-22.

• Jalana White and Nicole Leonard had 22 kills apiece as Whitworth beat No. 24 Trinity 23-25, 25-18, 16-25, 26-24, 15-12 at the Marriott Wittenberg National Invitational in Springfield, Ohio.

Leonard added 23 kills and Maddye Dinsmore dished out 48 assists for the Pirates in their season opener.

• UC Santa Barbara (3-1) handed Idaho (2-3) its second straight five-set loss, this one coming at the UCSB Fall Invitational in Santa Barbara, Calif. Set scores were 25-11, 23-25, 25-19, 23-25 and 15-12.

Janelle Chow had a career-high 39 digs for Idaho.

• No. 12 Washington made it five straight wins without dropping a set after beating Purdue (3-1) and LSU (2-3) at the Tiger Classic in Houston.

The Huskies (5-0) beat the seventh-ranked Boilermakers 25-21, 25-17, 25-9 and swept the Tigers 25-21, 25-20, 25-22.

• North Idaho (5-0) beat Western Wyoming and Northeastern Junior College to open play in the Salt Lake City Tournament.

The Cardinals beat Western Wyoming 25-14, 25-18, 25-12. HayleeMae Dennis had 11 kills for NIC.

Rosie Robinson led the way in the second match as North Idaho beat Northeastern 25-16, 25-15, 28-30, 25-16. Robinson had 25 digs and three aces.

• Community Colleges of Spokane opened the season with wins over Treasure Valley and Southwestern Oregon at the Chemeketa (Ore.) Tournament. The Sasquatch beat TVCC 25-13, 25-17, 25-19 and SWOCC 25-10, 25-14, 25-18.

Women’s soccer

Micaela Castain scored twice in the second half to lead Washington State (3-0) to a 2-1 come-from-behind victory over San Diego (2-3) at the USC Futbol Classic in Los Angeles.

Castain converted a penalty kick in the 65th minute to knot the match at 1. Ten minutes later, Castain secured a pass from Brandi Vega and scored the match-winner.

• Kasey Rubosky’s header in the ninth minute proved to be the difference as Gonzaga held on to beat Austin Peay (2-3) 1-0 in a nonconference match in Clarksville, Tenn.

GU (4-1) had a 14-8 advantage in shots, including 7-3 in shots on goal.

• Eastern Washington’s defense fended off scoring attempts late in the match and the Eagles (0-2-1) played to a double-overtime scoreless draw with Air Force (2-1-2) at Cadet Soccer Stadium in Colorado Springs, Colo.

• Rebeccah Bortz and Savanna Schmidt scored in the second half and Chapman blanked Whitworth 3-0 in a nonconference season-opening match in Orange, Calif.

• Idaho (2-3) surrendered a pair of first-half goals and fell 2-0 to Idaho State (4-0) at the Bronco Invitational in Boise. The Vandals had several scoring chances in the second half but couldn’t convert.

• Lindsey Nieters scored in the 15th minute and Samhia Simao gave North Idaho (2-1) some breathing room with a second-half goal as the Cardinals blanked Northwest College 2-0 in Powell, Wyo.

Men’s soccer

Host Gonzaga scored twice in the second half and beat Manhattan 3-0 at the Gonzaga Nike Classic.

Conner Bevans opened the scoring in the 22nd minute with a goal off an assist from Greg Carter. Clark Phillips and Lars Ludwigs netted goals in the second half to secure the win for the Bulldogs (2-1).

• Whitworth (0-0-1) controlled the match, but couldn’t capitalize on its scoring opportunities in a season-opening scoreless draw with Augsburg (0-0-1) at Hamline University in St. Paul, Minn.

The Pirates had a 13-6 advantage in shots.

• Dylan Tucker-Gangnes scored in the 72nd minute on a free kick to give No. 25 Washington (3-0) a 3-2 win over Wisconsin (1-1) at the Portland Tournament.

Golf

Bob Christensen of Post Falls beat Darren Kuhn 5 and 3 to win the Pacific Northwest Men’s Master-40 Amateur Championship in Pendleton, Ore.

Christenson’s birdie on the par-5 fifth hole gave him a one-stroke lead, one that he would never surrender.

Last week, Christenson won the Pacific Northwest Senior Men’s Amateur Public Links Championship.