Saturday, Sept. 24

Volleyball: Alaska Anchorage Ends WWU Home Streak

Robyn Burton

Robyn Burton had 12 kills and 10 total blocks to lead Alaska Anchorage to a 27-25, 25-21, 21-25, 25-18 upset of 25th-ranked Western Washington Saturday night at Carver Gymnasium.

The Seawolves (8-5, 4-1), who host 15th ranked Seattle Pacific (9-3, 4-0) next Thursday, stayed just one-half match back of the Falcons and moved to within one-half match of the Vikings (7-3, 5-1) with the win.

The victory also snapped WWU's 13-match home win streak dating back to the end of the 2009 season.

Seattle Pacific needed just 64 minutes to cruise past Saint Martin's, 25-9, 25-19, 25-16, in a Saturday afternoon match at Brougham Pavilion and remain as the lone unbeaten team in conference play.

Meanwhile, Montana State Billings (8-5, 2-2) overcame a 2-1 set deficit to beat Western Oregon, 26-24, 22-25, 26-28, 26-24, 15-13. Four of the five sets were decided by the minimum two-point margin.

Alaska Fairbanks (1-12, 1-4) snapped its 12-match losing streak and kept Simon Fraser (0-10, 0-6) winless with a 23-25, 25-22, 25-10, 25-9 victory.

In a non-conference match, Northwest Nazarene (6-4) swept Walla Walla, 25-15, 25-8, 25-19.

Alaska Anchorage, which hit for a .259 average, got a season-high 51 assists from setter Kimya Jafroudi in its win. The Seawolves hit a robust .448 in the clinching fourth set. 

Outside hitter Jackie Matthisen had 18 kills and 10 digs and right-side hitter Ariel Austin had 13 kills.

Outside hitter Marlayna Geary led Western Washington with a match-high 19 kills and 14 digs, but the Vikings playing before a home crowd of 938 could not convert early advantages in the first and second sets.

UAA trailed 9-4 in the first set before scrapping back to tie it at 18. The Vikings earned a set point at 25-24, but Matthisen responded with her fifth kill for the equalizer.

Geary was then blocked by Austin and Miranda Doing, and Austin converted a kill to give the Seawolves the early advantage.

Doing then came up big in the second set, helping UAA recover from a 13-8 deficit with four timely kills. The junior middle blocker rallied the Seawolves within striking distance at 21-18, before Burton and Matthisen took over, combining for four kills and two blocks in a 7-point run.

WWU retained its lead throughout the third set, but UAA finally got off to a good start in the fourth, grabbing a 13-9 lead on a Burton kill midway through.

The Vikings crept within two points on three occasions and trailed 21-18 when a Burton block and two straight Matthisen kills quickly led to match point, with Geary hitting the ball wide.

The Seawolves' win was just their second in 13 all-time visits to Bellingham, but the second in the last three seasons.  It was the teams' first meeting since the first round of the 2010 NCAA tournament when WWU handed UAA a 3-1 loss.

Burton matched her career-high in total blocks and earned her second career double-double. The GNAC's attack percentage leader hit four points better than her average coming in, converting at a .409 clip (12-3-22).

Matthisen, meanwhile, reached the 900-kill mark for her career as she hit .364 (18-2-44) and earned three total blocks.

Doing had seven kills on .545 hitting and four block assists, and Austin converted at a .364 clip after missing the last two matches with a knee strain.

Sophomore libero Quincy Haught paced the back-row defense with 15 digs.

In addition to Geary, Western Washington got double-figure kills from Emily Jepsen (14) and Emily Boerger (12). Samantha Hutchinson matched Haught's match-high dig total of 15. Jepsen also had five blocks but also had five service errors.

Seattle Pacific, which will be seeking its first win in Anchorage since 2007 next Thursday, was led by Lindsey Wodrich with 15 kills and a pair of service aces in its win. Wodrich also had two blocks and finished with a total of 18 points.

Paige Hoffman hit .412 (8-1-17) and Nikki Lowell posted a .583 percentage (7-0-12) as SPU outhit Saint Martin's (3-8, 2-4) by a .264 to .044 count.

Setter Shelby Swanson had team highs of 28 assists and 16 digs. The Falcons had nine aces in the contest including three by Brianna Leenders.

Saint Martin's was paced by Kristyn Ross with six kills. Katy Ferguson had five blocks and Brianna Bautista had 13 digs.

Monica Grimsrud had a GNAC season-high 26 kills, including match point in Montana State Billings' victory.

Grimsrud, who hit for a .400 average (26-6-50) helped rally the Yellowjackets from a 16-9 deficit in the fourth set.

Tied at 24-24, Grimsrud and Chelsey Walter, who had seven kills and a match-high seven blocks, had kills to force the fifth set.

In the fifth set, WOU went ahead 14-9 before the Wolves (8-5, 2-2) fought off four match points. Grimsrud, however, then earned her 26th kill to end it.

In addition to Grimsrud, MSUB also got 11 kills and six blocks from Melissa Porter and 54 assists and 17 digs from Brooke Tolman.

Danielle Reese paced Western Oregon with 21 kills. Three players - Krissi Kemper, Corynn Kopra and Samantha Ward - had a dozen kills for the Wolves. Megan Triggs led WOU with 21 digs.

Karlee Skalla had 16 kills and 16 digs to help Alaska Fairbanks snap its losing streak. UAF, which outhit the Clan .143 to .032, also got nine kills and 11 digs from Reilly Stevens and 17 digs from Allison Oddy.

Kristjana Fridfinnson led Simon Fraser with nine kills and four blocks, including three solos. Kelsey Robinson had eight kills.

Reisa Fessler had 11 kills and hit for a .769 percentage in Northwest Nazarene's victory. The Crusaders, who hit .322, also got seven kills from Carly Dranginis and 10 digs from Taylor Roberts.

Men's Soccer: Simon Fraser Needs OT To Stay Unbeaten

Wallace

Simon Fraser, which had outscored its first six opponents by a 22-2 margin, needed two extra periods to defeat Northwest Nazarene 1-0 Saturday at Nampa and stay unbeaten (7-0, 3-0).

Western Washington (3-3-0, 2-1-0), meanwhile, got first-half goals from Andrew Weishaar and Caden Sowers in a 2-1 win over Montana State Billings.

Simon Fraser, which is ranked 12th nationally, outshot NNU (3-4-1, 0-4-0) and took the only two shots in overtime. Justin Wallace got the game-winner converting a cross from Carlo Bassi at 100:40.

Sheldon Steenhuis had two saves in posting the shutout. NNU's Zander Engeman made four saves before giving up the game-winner.

Midfielder Oscar Jimenez earned his 20th career assist on Sowers' goal in the 38th minute to give Western Washington a 2-0 lead at the break in its victory.

Jimenez, who has three assists on the season, got Sowers open for a breakaway.

Weishaar scored 13 minutes earlier, finding the lower right corner after a deflected shot. Kellan Brown was credited with an assist.

MSUB's only goal came in the 54th minute as Thomas Sheets found the net from seven yards out on a cross from Matt Brink. The Yellowjackets (2-6-0, 0-4-0) have lost four straight.

“It was a good win for us,” said WWU coach Travis Connell. “We were really in control of the match the whole way. Justin Moore, Jimenez and Brown helped us control the tempo of the game and stifle any of (MSUB's) runs.”

Freshman goalkeeper Keegan Rogers made five saves in his first start, enabling the Vikings who were outshot 13-6, to get the win.

Women's Soccer: MSUB, NNU Win on Second-Half Goals

Siler	Steele

Whitney Siler of Montana State Billings and Julianne Steele of Northwest Nazarene scored second-half goals to lead their respective teams to 1-0 GNAC women's soccer home victories Saturday afternoon.

Siler's goal came in the 65th minute off a Adrienne Biglow service on a corner kick as the Yellowjackets defeated Western Washington. The ball sailed from the left corner to the back post where Siler was waiting in a crowd of players.

She came through and put the ball into the left corner of the goal, earning MSUB its third consecutive 1-0 victory over the Vikings.

Both teams managed just one shot in the first half and combined for only 10 - six by WWU and four by MSUB - for the contest. WWU goalie Jamie Arthurs had the only three saves of the contest.

Steele's game-winner, which was assisted by Whitney Wood, came early in the 89th minute on a shot from 15 yards out as Northwest Nazarene edged Simon Fraser.

The Clan had a 10-6 advantage in shots in the contest and took 11 of the 13 corner kicks. Tanya Zickefoose was credited with seven saves in posting the shutout. Taylor Shantz had one save for SFU.

In a night game, Kelsey Jenkins opened the scoring four minutes into the game to start 21st-ranked Seattle Pacific (7-1-0, 4-0-0) on its way to a 3-0 win against Western Oregon (2-4-2, 1-2-1) before a crowd of 814 at Interbay Stadium.

Jenkins received a pass from Megan Lindsay, dribbled into the box and lined a 15-yard shot into the right side at 4:06.

Kellie Zakrzewski gave the Falcons, who posted their fifth straight shutout victory, a 2-0 lead they carried into halftime. She found enough space in the box to fire a 12-yard shot into the goal at 33:21.

Freshman Ali Martin netted her team-leading fourth goal at 83:54 on a 7-yard header.

Freshman goalkeeper Natalie Harold was not required to make a save en route to her third shutout. The Falcons have not surrendered a goal in their last 475 minutes.

Brittney Rigtrup made two saves for the Wolves, who were outshot 19-6.

Men's Golf: Viks, Saints Tie For Second in WWU Invite

Nick Varelia

Saint Martin's and Western Washington tied for second in the team standings and three GNAC players ended up tied for second in the medallist race in the 40th annual Western Washington University Invitational.

Cal State Stanislaus cruised to a 21-stroke victory in the tournament which concluded Saturday at the Bellingham Golf & Country Club. The Warriors had a 36-hole score of 563.

The next four team finishers were separated by just one shot. The Saints and Vikings had 584 totals, while Grand Canyon and Hawaii Hilo finished with 585 scores.

MSU Billings had a 288 Saturday to match the second best team round of the day and finished sixth at 595.

Trevor Blair of CSU Stanislaus won medallist honors by six shots finishing with a nine-under par score of 135.

Matt Epstein of Saint Martin's and Dylan Goodwin and Nick Varelia of Western Washington tied with Scott Secord of British Columbia for second with 36-hole scores of 141 on the par-72, 6,561 yard layout.

Varelia, who was competing as an individual, shot a 68 Saturday which was the second best round of the day and the third best in the tournament.

Western Washington Invitational (Sept. 23-24 at Bellingham Golf & CC, Bellingham, WA): Team Scores - 1. Cal State Stanislaus 563 (287-276), 2. Saint Martin's 584 (296-288) and Western Washington 584 (293-291), 4. Grand Canyon 585 (296-289) and Hawaii Hilo 585 (297-288), 6. MSU Billings 595 (307-288), 10. Simon Fraser 612 (305-307), 11. Northwest Nazarene 615 (313-302). Individuals (Par 72, 6,561 Yards) - 1. Trevor Blair, CSUS, 135 (66-69); 2. Matt Epstein, SMU, 141 (71-70); Dylan Goodwin, WWU, 141 (71-70) and *Nick Varelia, WWU, 141 (73-68); 6. Zach Dietz, SMU, 142 (73-69); 12. Eric Gravbrot, MSUB, 146 (76-70); 19. Jake Webb, WWU, 147 (73-74), Michael Belle, SFU, 147 (74-73) and P.J. Thomas, MSUB, 147 (76-71); 23. Brian Barhanovich, WWU, 148 (75-73) and Mark Strickland, WWU, 148 (74-74); 27. Ben Fosnick, SMU, 149 (75-74); *Craig Crawford, WWU, 149 (78-71) and *Evan Needham, WWU, 149 (77-72); 35. Brock Sargent, NNU, 151 (74-77); *Thomas Jun, WWU, 151 (82-69); John Mlikotic, SFU, 151 (76-75); Ryan Graham, MSUB, 151 (79-72) and Gage Huft, MSUB, 151 (76-75); 42. Brandon Moore, SMU, 152 (77-75); 43. Nick Hardy, NNU, 153 (81-72); 44. Jack Whealdon, SMU, 154 (79-75); 46. Zach Grunig, NNU, 156 (75-81); 48. Thomas Hanacek, NNU, 157 (85-72); 50. Jordan Melanson, SFU, 159 (79-80); 51. Calum Miller, SFU, 160 (76-84); 53. Brad Harrelson, MSUB, 161 (85-76); 57. Adam Karim, SFU, 162 (83-79); 68. Matt Sturgill, NNU, 168 (83-85); Sandy Vaughan, WWU (DQ-74). *Competed as individual.

Friday, Sept. 23

Men's Soccer: Seattle Pacific Extends Win Streak To Five

The Falcons (5-1-1) have won five straight, outscoring their opponents 16-4. Schultz, who tallied a hat trick in Wednesday's 5-2 win over Mary, leads SPU with six goals.

Two other Falcons scored for the second straight outing. Connor Meppen notched the team's second goal at 38:04 and freshman Sean Russell provided a 4-1 halftime lead with a goal at 43:04.

Ryan Brand opened the scoring just 5:22 into the game off assists from Schultz and Kodiac Gamble. A foul in the box set up the Falcons third goal, a penalty kick conversion at 39:01 by Danny Brill.

Sioux Falls saw its record fall to 1-5-1. The Cougars lone goal was scored by Ivan Campos at 40:11.

Zach Johnson made three saves for SPU before giving way to Liviu Bird in the 82nd minute.

Adam Wemhoff was credited with seven saves for Sioux Falls, which was outshot 21-4.