Area roundup: Zags volleyball remains unbeaten with sweep of Montana

Gonzaga never trailed in its match with Montana, sweeping the Grizzlies 25-18, 25-18, 25-9 on Saturday in Missoula. Gonzaga has swept the last three meetings between the two squads.

The Zags advance to 4-0 with the win. It’s the program’s best start to a season since 1990 when they won their first six matches.

Gonzaga plays next weekend at the Nevada Wolf Pack Tournament in Reno, Nevada against the host WolfPack, Southern Utah and UC Davis.

Eastern Washington splits two: The Eagles dropped their first match at the Grand Canyon University Tournament, swept 20-25, 23-25, 22-25 to the host Lopes before rebounding to beat Eastern Kentucky in the second 15-25, 25-15, 23-25, 25-23, 15-5 in Phoenix.

Freshman Katie Mahoney recorded her first double-digit kill matches, posting 10 in the early match and 19 in the five-game second match victory.

Eastern Washington (2-3) plays in the UniWyo Invite in Laramie, Wyoming starting on Friday against Cal State Northridge.

WSU takes a pair in California: McKenna Woodford’s 17 kills led Washington State to a win over UC Irvine (25-18, 25-21, 21-25, 25-17) at the Long Beach (California) State Invitational.

In the second match, The Cougars (5-1) swept host Long Beach State 25-14, 25-20, 25-23).

Washington State hosts the WSU Cougar Challenge on Friday with Idaho, George Washington and Maryland Eastern Shore.

Vandals swept by Villanova: Villanova ended Idaho’s stay at the UW/SU Tournament with a 25-23, 25-13, 25-22 loss in Seattle.

Junior Becca Mau led Idaho (3-3) with eight kills. Torrin Crawford added seven kills and a team-high .429 swing percentage.

Whitworth splits at Slug Fest: The Pirates were swept by Menlo in the early match before knocking off UC Santa Cruz (18-25, 25-11, 25-15, 21-25, 15-7) in Santa Cruz, California.

Whitworth faces Mills and Whitman on Sunday in the tournament.

CCS plays in tourney: CC Spokane lost to visiting Skagit Valley 27-29, 25-13, 15-10, beat Blue Mountain 25-17, 25-21 and fell to Shoreline 18-25, 25-16, 13-15 at the Highline Tournament in Des Moines, Iowa.

Men’s Soccer

Whitworth took down Occidental College 4-1 in the Pirates’ season opener at the Whitworth Soccer Field.

Whitworth (1-0) got two goals from Jonah Snyder. Alfredo Ornelas and Christian Haas added a goal apiece.

Whitworth plays next weekend in The College of New Jersey Classic.

Tacoma knocks off NIC: North Idaho fell to Tacoma CC 2-1 in Tacoma. The Cardinals play next at Columbia Basin on Saturday.

Women’s Soccer

Emily Aspden scored the lone goal of the match in the 84th minute to help visiting North Idaho edge Tacoma CC 1-0 in Tacoma.

Tiegan Horton made five saves to record the shutout.

NIC (2-1) travels to Blue Mountain CC in Pendleton, Oregon on Saturday in their first league game of the season.

Hockey

The Spokane Chiefs dropped a 3-2 overtime decision in their second game of the WHL preseason in Everett, Washington.

Kailer Yamamoto and Jordan Henderson scored for the Chiefs. Matt Berlin made 20 saves in 23 opportunities.

Spokane (1-0-1) plays its third preseason game on Sunday at 11:30 a.m. against Seattle.

The Chiefs open the 2016-17 regular season on the road against Tri-City on Sept. 24.