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Saturday, Sept. 10

Volleyball: Western Oregon Rallies To Beat Nanooks

Reese

Danielle Reese had 16 kills and Krissi Kemper had 15 as Western Oregon rallied from a 2-0 set deficit to defeat Alaska Fairbanks, 17-25, 23-25, 25-14, 25-20, 15-7, in a GNAC match Saturday at The Patty Center.

The win gave the Wolves (3-3, 2-0) a sweep of their two-match road trip to Alaska and a share of first-place in the GNAC with Western Washington at the conclusion of the first week of conference action.

Western Washington (4-2, 2-0) swept Central Washington, 25-23, 25-11, 25-23, for its second conference victory. Alaska Anchorage and Northwest Nazarene also won matches by 3-0 scores Saturday.

The Seawolves (5-5, 1-1) leveled their overall and conference records with a 27-25, 25-14, 25-19 win against Saint Martin's (2-4, 1-1). Northwest Nazarene (3-3, 1-1) also leveled its records defeating Simon Fraser 27-25, 25-14, 25-22.

After losing the first two sets, Western Oregon won the final three sets by margins of 11, 5 and 8 points to keep Alaska Fairbanks (0-10, 0-2) winless.

The Wolves rebounded from a .053 second-set percentage to outhit the Nanooks .226 to .160 in the match. Setter LesLyne Satele had 45 assists for WOU.

Defensively, the Wolves were led by Cally Young and Megan Triggs with 17 digs each. Becky Blees had four blocks.

Reilly Stevens paced UAF with 17 kills. Keri Knight and Casey Tidwell had 12 and 10, respectively. Allison Oddy had 29 digs and Becky Martin had 45 assists.

Outside hitter Kelsey Moore had 11 kills in Western Washington's three-set sweep of Central Washington. The win was their 12th straight win at Carver Gym, dating back to the 2009 season.

Outside hitter Marlayna Geary and middle blocker Emily Jepsen each had nine kills for the Vikings. Geary also had 17 digs and Jepsen added seven blocks.

Libero Samantha Hutchinson had a match-high 24 digs and right-side hitter Emily Boerger had seven kills on .429 hitting and four blocks. Setter Laurie Yearout contributed 31 assists, five digs, four blocks and three service aces.

Central Washington was led by Meg Ryan with 11 digs. Chelsie Vea had 19 digs.

The Vikings never trailed in winning the first set, then scored 11 consecutive points, 10 on the serve of Hutchinson, in building a 21-9 lead in the second set.

Western overcame a 22-16 deficit in the third set, scoring nine of the last 10 points. Yearout served five of those points, two of them aces.

Geary, Moore and Boerger had consecutive kills as the Vikings took a 24-23 lead and the match ended on an attack error by Central.

Jackie Matthisen had a team season-high 21 kills in Alaska Anchorage's home victory. The Seawolves also got nine kills from middle blocker Robyn Burton and six kills and three aces from outside hitter Nikkie Viotto.

The Saints were led by 12 kills and six digs from outside hitter Kristyn Ross but were out-hit .304 to .136 and out-aced 10-2.

Saint Martin's had a chance to gain momentum with a set point at 25-24 in the opening frame, however Kristeen Juarez's attack was blocked by Ariel Austin and Miranda Doing.

After an error by Ross, Burton clinched it for the Seawolves with an authoritative kill. Burton had six kills on just eight attacks with no errors in the first set and finished the night with her fourth .500-plus attack percentage (.500, 9-1-16) of the season.

Matthisen took over in the second set, slamming eight kills as UAA began to run away with the match. She also had a team-high 10 digs to record her fifth double-double of the year and 23rd of her career.

Setter Kaitlyn Tuholski had team highs of 12 kills, 21 assists and four blocks as Northwest Nazarene kept Simon Fraser (0-6, 0-2) winless.

The Crusaders were also led by Haley Abbott with eight kills. Abbott matched Tuholski's block total of four. Kailey Trautmann had 16 digs to lead the NNU defense.

Cheryl Windhorst placed the Clan with 15 kills, while Alanna Chan had a match-high 17 digs.

Falcons Finish 2-2 in Colorado Tournament

Seattle Pacific had four players in double-digit kills – including a season-high 18 from Caitlin Fellows – and Lindsey Wodrich contributed a double-double of 12 kills and 14 digs as the 16th-ranked Falcons defeated Florida Southern 25-17, 14-25, 25-21, 25-18 in the Silver Bracket semifinals of the Colorado Premier Challenge volleyball tournament

SPU (5-3) lost to nationally sixth-ranked Southwest Minnesota State 25-21, 25-14, 25-11 Silver championship match to finish the tournament with a 2-2 record.

Wodrich slammed half of her 12 kills against Florida Southern in the match-clinching fourth set. One of them came at 23-18 and gave the Falcons a chance at match point. Wodrich served again, and Fellows hit her 18th kill to clinch it.

Wodrich's double-double was her third of the season and the 22nd of her career. She also had four blocks, two of them solo.

Nikki Lowell had 14 kills. Paige Hoffman had 10 kills and just one error on 21 attacks for a .429 hitting percentage.

Lowell had seven total blocks (one of them solo), and Hoffman had a six, with her first solo of the season. Wodrich came up with two solos among her four total blocks.

The Falcons finished with a season-high 59 kills and hit .238 for the match. Florida Southern finished with 48 kills and hit just .160.

Southwest Minnesota nearly tripled SPU's attack percentage in its win (.311 to ,105) as Mary Groth led the way with 17 kills. Fellows had a team-high eight kills for the Falcons.

Tolman Named To All-Tournament Team At Phoenix

Brooke Tolman had 100 assists and was named to the all-tournament team as Montana State Billings split a pair of matches to finish 2-3 in the Grand Canyon Invitational in Phoenix.

Tolman had 42 assists and 15 digs in a 19-25, 25-21, 27-25, 25-22 win over Colorado Christian, then contributed 58 assists and 12 digs as the Yellowjackets (6-3) lost to Western New Mexico, 25-22, 22-25, 25-22, 21-25, 15-8.

Monica Grimsrud had 13 kills to led three players in double figures against CCU. Melissa Porter and Krista Norris each had 10 kills. Norris also matched Tolman's dig total of 15.

Grimsrud had a match-high 22 kills against Western New Mexico. MSUB was also led by Norris with12 kills, Porter with 11 and Jody Lutz with 10. Porter had a team-high seven blocks.

Men's Soccer: Simon Fraser Beats No. 9 Grand Canyon

Holian Basso
Carlo Basso converted a penalty kick in the 10th minute and Simon Fraser then held on to defeat nationally ninth-ranked Grand Canyon 1-0 Saturday in a neutral site men's soccer game at Lacey.

On the day, GNAC teams went 3-1-1. Ryan Brand and Tyler Schultz scored goals as Seattle Pacific handed Metro State (2-1-1) its first loss by a 2-1 count.

Garion Holian scored four goals, including two on penalty kicks to lead Montana State Billings to a 4-2 win over Colorado Christian.

Northwest Nazarene stayed unbeaten battling the University of Mary to a 1-1 draw at the NNU Soccer Field. The lone loser was Western Washington which fell 2-1 at home to Notre Dame de Namur.

Defense dominated the SFU-GCU game. The Antelopes (2-1-0) finished the contest with an 13-11 advantage in shots though the Clan had one more shot on goal (8-7).

“This was a very good game between two top NCAA soccer teams,” said SFU head coach Alan Koch.

“(Midfielders) Justin Wallace and Chris Bargholz played their best games of their respective SFU careers (and) our back four of Carson Gill, Matt Besuschko, Anthony DiNicolo and Marco Voegeli were very good in the second half to preserve the win," Koch said.

Sheldon Steenhuis was credited with six saves to post the shutout for Simon Fraser, which stayed unbeaten in three contests.

Seattle Pacific (1-1-1) earned its first win of the season as Ryan Brand and Tyler Schultz scored goals early in the first half. Schultz's goal came on a penalty kick.

Brand started the scoring , tapping in a loose ball at the left post at the 9:30 mark. Schultz started the scoring play with a shot from the right side that Metro goalkeeper Issa Bissau dove to his right to deflect.

SPU's Drew Williams retrieved the ball on the left end line and sent it right back toward the goal. Brand was there waiting to redirect it through a traffic jam from a yard in front of the post.

Just over four minutes later, SPU's Caleb Nyone was taken down by the Roadrunners Josh Buysse in the box. A penalty kick was immediately called, and Schultz blasted it into the back right corner with Bissau going the opposite way.

Jeremy Brooks got Metro on the board shortly before halftime. A shot from the right side by teammate Jeremy Crawford was saved by Falcons goalkeeper Zach Johnson. But it came right out to Brooks, who put it to the far right corner at 43:13.

The Roadrunners (2-1-1) had a chance to tie it after being awarded a penalty kick early in the 60th minute. But Chris Yoder sent a low shot wide, traveling just left of the SPU goal.

SPU outshot Metro, 20-16. Johnson made six saves, including two of the dramatic variety during the first half.

He dove to his right to knock away a shot by TJ Thiebaut late in the 32nd minute, then came out to make a sliding save when Thiebaut came one-on-one into the box and fired a shot from 16 yards away on the left side in the 40th minute.

Holian tied the MSUB school record and equaled the second highest single-game goal total in GNAC history in Montana State Billings' win.

Colorado Christian got on the board first on a goal by Graham Delano at 8:01, but MSUB answered in the 14th minute when Holian took a ball from Joshua Marocchi on a counter attack and drove the ball into the back of the net from 18 yards out.

The Cougars regained the lead just 1:16 later when Delano hit a penalty kick Holian, however, countered just before the half for the Yellowjackets when he converted a penalty kick.

With the game knotted at 2-2, MSUB took the lead for the first time in the match during the 70th minute as Marocchi and Clifton Thomas connected a pair of passes and found Holian in the middle where he finished with a shot to the keeper's right.

Holian's fourth goal came in the 74th minute on yet another penalty kick. Again he drove the ball home and past the keeper to seal the match.

The Yellowjackets held a 25-4 edge in shots and owned a 4-1 edge on corner kicks.

The Northwest Nazarene - Mary contest was scoreless until deep into the match. The Marauders (0-2-2) struck first when Ryan Buchholz collected a cross from Aaron McElwee in the 79th minute and sent a shot from the right side of the box across and just inside the far post past a diving NNU goalkeeper Zander Engeman.

NNU (3-0-1) evened the score when Jose Oregon took a ball down the left side, beating two defenders and firing a shot from 12 yards out at 81:18.

Oregon's shot deflected hard off a defenders foot and into the goal, just past UM goalkeeper Michael Frenzel.

In the overtime periods, the Crusaders outshot Mary 7-4 to finish with a 20-14 shot advantage. In the contest Engeman had three saves.

"We played well and I'm very pleased," NNU coach Coe Michaelson said. "Sometimes the results don't represent the total effort.  We hit the post twice and missed an open goal chance...but sometimes the game just does that."

Notre Dame de Namur scored its goals in a span of less than three minutes late in the first half and then held on to beat Western Washington.

The Argonauts opened the scoring 37 minutes into the game as Oscar Yniguez converted a penalty kick after Hunter LeBlanc was tripped in the penalty area.

Just 2:41 later, the NDNU lead doubled, as Scott Sweetnam rose above the pack to hammer home a Yniguez corner kick.

Western narrowed the margin to 2-1 just 37 seconds into the second half.  Andrew Weishaar beat a defender in the right corner to get into the penalty area, then rolled a pass to Keith Ferris, who blasted a shot inside the far post from 12 yards.

The Vikings, who had an 18-10 edge in shots, including an 11-5 advantage in the second half, applied heavy pressure late in the contest. 

Twice in the final three minutes NDNU goalkeeper Isiah Castro narrowly cut off high crosses destined for Weishaar, then with just 30 seconds left, Western's Steven had a shot 14 from yards straight out from goal, but fired high.

Women's Soccer: Vikings Edge Argonauts In OT

Brina Sych
Brina Sych scored nine minutes into overtime, leading Western Washington (1-1-2) to a 2-1 home victory over Notre Dame de Namur Saturday in a NCAA Division II West Region contest at Orca Field.

Elsewhere Heather Young scored twice as Seattle Pacific (3-1-0) blanked Nebraska Omaha 5-0 and Saint Martin's (0-2-2) played Northwest University to a 2-2 tie.

Dayna Domingo scored from 23 yards out in the second minute of overtime as the University of Mary handed Montana State Billings (3-1-0) a 2-1 loss at Bismarck, N.D.

Meanwhile, Autumn Yturbe scored twice to lead Northwest Nazarene (2-2-0) to a 4-0 home win over Trinity Lutheran.

Sych's game-winner came off a corner kick.  Megan Chapin played a ball to the near post, where it found the head of Alicia Patten.  Patten flicked the ball to Sych, who was alone six yards out and headed it home.

The Vikings needed late heroics just to get the game to overtime as Emily Frankland calmly finished from eight yards out off a pass from Kim Cooper in the 87th minute.

A Frankland shot in overtime that was knocked away by a charging NDNU goalkeeper Kelsey Baxter set up Chapin's corner that provided the game-winning goal.

“Emily gave us a big lift,” Connell said. “Not just with the goal, but she also led by example. She brought a lot of energy late in the game.”

Goalkeeper Jamie Arthurs had six saves for Western, which had a 17-11 advantage in shots and a 5-2 edge in corner kicks.

Young put Seattle Pacific on the board at the 20:22 mark with a 20-yard blast from the right side that ricocheted off the near post and into the back left corner. Her second goal came at 53:16 when she headed in a shot from five yards in front of the left post.

Defender Josie Graybeal, forward Brandi Hamre and forward Kellie Zakrzewski also scored goals for Seattle Pacific, which outshot UNO 20-9.

Saint Martin's rallied from a 2-0 first-half deficit to earn its draw with Northwest. The Saints' Sammi Thompson converted a corner kick at 51:19. Nicole Nedervelt then tied up the match at 79:49 on a penalty kick.

The Eagles finished the contest with a 18-15 advantage in shots. Three Saint goalkeepers combined for eight saves, including Ashley Engel who had five.

Domingo scored the University of Mary's game winner at 91:11 after taking a pass from Andrea Muller.

Mary earlier had forced overtime getting a goal from Michelle Jones at 69:31. Jones beat Yellowjacket goalie Danielle Gordon after taking a through ball.

Jaucelyn Richter scored MSUB's goal in the 22nd minute. Assists were awarded to Heidi Greenback and Jennifer Larsen.

Mary had an 11-7 advantage in shots. Gordon was credited with four saves.

In addition to Yturbe, Northwest Nazarene also got a goal and two assists from Jenny Field and a goal from freshman Whitney Wood in its win.

Field, who now has four goals on the season, scored in the sixth minute after dribbling down the left side past two defenders and sending home the shot from eight yards out. 

Yturbe added the first of her two scores in the 31st minute, converting a shot from 22 yards away off a centering pass from Sarah Staropoli. 

Wood made it 3-0 in the 48th minute sending a high shot over the head of Trinity Lutheran goalkeeper Kaylin Wilson from 30 yards out.

Yturbe capped the NNU attack in the 53rd minute on a 10-yard shot from the right side.

Cross Country: UAA Sweeps Big Wave Invite Titles

Keino Yilma
Alaska Anchorage swept the University of Hawaii Big Wave Invitational cross country meet team titles Saturday. Recording individual victories for the Seawolves were seniors Ruth Keino and Yonatan Yilma.

UAA's men raced to a perfect score of 15 points. Yilma led a swarm of five Seawolves to cross the finish line in the 5,000 meter race in a time of 15:45.70. Just 12 seconds separated the five UAA athletes.

UAA women's squad placed five runners in the Top 7 in outpointing BYU-Hawaii 19-55. Keino won her third race of the fall in a 5K time of 18:38.32.

Hawaii Big Wave (Sept. 10 at Kaneohe Bay, HI): Men - Alaska Anchorage 15, BYU-Hawaii 52, Hawaii Pacific 86, Chaminade 100. Individuals (5,000 Meters) - 1. Yonatan Yilma, UAA, 15:45.70; 2. Micah Chelimo, UAA, 15:45.93; 3. Alfred Kangogo, UAA, 15:46.71; 4. Dylan Anthony, UAA, 15:46.90; 5. Jacob Parisien, UAA, 15:57.08; 8. Kevin Rooke, UAA, 16:17.82; 10. Michael Adams, UAA, 16:30.19. Women - Alaska Anchorage 19, BYU-Hawaii 5, Hawaii 64, Hawaii Pacific 117, Hawaii Hilo 147, Chaminade 161. Individuals (5,000 Meters) - 1. Ruth Keino, UAA, 18:38.32; 2. Susan Tanui, UAA, 18:50.05; 3. Miriam Kangogo, UAA, 18:50.53; 6. Susan Bick, UAA, 19:06.57; 7. Shoshana Keegan, UAA, 19:15.22; 9. Bryn Haebe, UAA, 19:39.34; 10. Christi Schmitz, UAA, 19:46.84.

Vikings, Falcons Win At Appleridge Invitational

Jordan Wolfe of Seattle Pacific and Katelyn Steen of Western Washington each finished first to lead their teams to titles in the CWU Apple Ridge Run Invitational Saturday at Yakima.

Wolfe led the Falcons to their third team win in three races covering the 6,000-meter course in a time of 20:15. Manuel Santos of Central Washington placed second in a time of 20:22.

Steen posted a time of 15:43 on the women's 4,000-meter layout. Gylany Crossman of Lane CC placed second in a time of 15:58.

The Viking women placed five runners in the Top 10 to easily outdistance Seattle Pacific 20-48 for the team title. SPU won the men's title with a team score of 31. Central Washington placed second with a score of 52.

CWU Apple Ridge (Sept. 10 at Yakima): Men - Seattle Pacific 31, Central Washington 52, Western Washington 63, Lane CC 68, Skagit Valley 134. Individuals (6,000 Meters) - 1. Jordan Wolfe, SPU, 20:15; 2. Manuel Santos, CWU, 20:22; 3. Alex Horton, SPU, 20:33; 6. Tavish Taylor, SPU, 20:50; 7. Ryan Thompson, CWU, 20:50; 9. Turner Wiley, SPU, 21:08; 10. Braden Timpe, WWU, 21:15. Women - Western Washington 20, Seattle Pacific 48, Central Washington 68. Individuals (4,000 Meters) - 1. Katelyn Steen, WWU, 15:43; 3. Heidi Laabs-Johnson, SPU, 15:59; 5. Rachael Johnson, WWU, 16:29; 6. Mikhaila Thorton, WWU, 16:35; 7. Phoebe Hartnett, WWU, 16:42; 9. Jasmine Johnson, SPU, 16:50; 10. Haley O'Connor, WWU, 16:54.

Watson Places Third In NNU Curran Memorial

Barak Watson of Northwest Nazarene placed third in the men's division at the NNU Roger Curran Memorial cross country meet with a 6,000-meter time of 19:02.83.

In the women's division, Natalie Evans was NNU's top placer finishing 14th in a 4,000-meter time of 15:48.88.

The Crusader men placed third and NNU's women finished second in the team standings.

NNU Roger Curran Memorial (Sept. 10 at Nampa): Men - Boise State (unattached) 31, Boise State 37, Northwest Nazarene 73, Eastern Oregon 107, Treasure Valley 126, Westminster 168, Boise State T&F 212. Individuals (6,000 Meters) - 1. Jeff Howard, BSU unattached, 18:53.32; 3. Barak Watson, NNU, 19:02.83; 10. Jesse Baggenstos, NNU, 19:24.91; 17. Matt Stark, NNU, 20:00.08. Women - Boise State 19, Northwest Nazarene 71, Eastern Oregon 73, Westminster 103, Treasure Valley 105. Individuals (4,000 Meters) - 1. Marisa VanderMalle, BSU, 14:48.10; 14. Natalie Evans, NNU, 15:48.88; 16. Jordan Powell, NNU, 15:59.46.

GNAC News