Saturday, Nov. 12

Volleyball: Seattle Pacific Claims GNAC Title

Wodrich

Lindsey Wodrich had 14 kills to lead Seattle Pacific to a 25-23, 25-19, 25-16 win at Montana State Billings Saturday.

The victory earned the Falcons (21-6) the GNAC title and automatic berth in next week's NCAA Division II West Regional playoffs after Alaska Anchorage (18-8) lost 25-21, 25-21, 19-25, 25-23 at Western Oregon (14-8, 13-5).

The qualifiers and first-round pairings for the regional will be announced Sunday night at 7 p.m. on the NCAA official web site.

Seattle Pacific ended up in sole possession of first place with a 15-3 record, one match ahead of UAA and Western Washington (16-6) which tied for second with 14-4 records.

The Vikings earned a share of second by defeating Northwest Nazarene, 25-22, 19-25, 25-18, 25-12.

Central Washington (15-11, 9-9) and Saint Martin's (7-18, 5-13) won Saturday's other two matches. The Wildcats swept Simon Fraser 25-18, 25-22, 25-13. The Saints earned a 25-18, 25-19, 20-25, 25-12 win over Alaska Fairbanks at Capital High Gym in Olympia.

Seattle Pacific outhit MSU Billings .244 to .120 in its win. In addition to Wodrich, the Falcons also got 10 kills from Paige Hoffman.

The Yellowjackets (11-16, 5-13) were led by Taylor Adams and Monica Grimsrud with 10 kills.

Danielle Reese had 18 kills and Samantha Ward had 14 in Western Oregon's home win over Alaska Anchorage. Krissi Kemper chipped in with eight, while Coryn Kopra and Becky Blees had seven each.

Jackie Matthisen paced the Seawolves with 12 kills, while Robyn Burton and Ariel Austin each had 11. Burton also had eight blocks.

Emily Jepsen had 19 kills and Kelsey Moore had 16 to lead Western Washington to its win. The Vikings also got 13 kills from Marlayna Geary. Haley Abbott led the Crusaders with 13.

Jordan Offutt led Central Washington with 11 kills and Meg Ryan had nine as the Wildcats evened their conference record finishing with a .500 or better record in conference play for the 13th consecutive season.

Kristjana Fridfinnson had 11 kills and Amanda Renkema had 10 for the Clan (1-21, 1-17).

Kristyn Ross had 22 kills and 21 digs to lead Saint Martin's. The Saints (7-18) finished 5-13 in the GNAC matching their best conference record they set in 2001.

SMU outhit the Nanooks .254 to .115 in the victory, including .367 to minus .030 in the decisive fourth set.

Joining Ross in double figure kills were Kristeen Juarez with 11. Teilissa Tua had nine kills and a match-high six blocks. Simone Chavous led the Nanooks (2-24, 2-16) with 15 kills.

Women's Soccer: Falcons Ousted by Cal State L.A.

Lindsay

Janet Mendez scored the first goal and assisted on the game-winner Saturday for Cal State L.A. which posted a 2-1 second-round win at Jesse Owens Stadium that eliminated fifth-ranked Seattle Pacific from the NCAA Division II women's soccer tournament.

The Falcons (17-3-0), who were participating in the playoffs for the ninth straight season, had defeated Grand Canyon 4-0 in the first round Thursday.

Cal State L.A. (13-4-3) advances to the West Region championship game to meet the winner of Sunday's match up between UC San Diego and Chico State.

The decisive goal came in the 80th minute off the foot of Lisa Ohberg. She collected a pass from Mendez at the left side of the box and lined a 15-yard shot across the goal.

The ball trickled just past the outstretched arms of diving goalkeeper Brooke Yokers and nestled inside the right post at 79:56.

SPU had two late chances to tie. With three minutes remaining the ball ricocheted off a defender's head in the CSULA goalmouth, but SPU's Kelsey Jenkins was unable to get a head or foot to it and it carried out for a corner kick.

Brandi Hamre's low 17-yard shot from the center with 1:31 on the clock was smothered by goalkeeper Jessie Walworth. That was the last shot of the contest by either team.

The Golden Eagles opened the scoring just 1:22 into the game, capitalizing on a defensive miscue.

Ayana Younge sent a long ball from her defensive end to the SPU half. Mendez sprinted down the left side toward the ball with a defender at her side while Yokers raced off her line.

The SPU goalkeeper ran a few feet out of her 18-yard box to clear the ball, but her kick caromed off the Eagles midfielder toward the SPU goal.

Mendez caught up to the ball and lined a 15-yard shot across the open goal and into the right inside netting.

Megan Lindsay equalized for SPU at 28:19 with her team-leading 12th goal. She received a short through pass from Brandi Hamre in the right side of the box, turned and sent a 16-yard strike into the upper right corner.

The Falcons nearly took the lead during the final minute of the half. The ball squirted away from a scramble at the right of the Eagles box and freshman Arden Matro got a look at the open goal from 14 yards on the left side.

Her shot appeared to cross the goal line before being cleared off by defender Justine Telles. The referee did not signal a goal and the put-back attempt by Jenkins was collected by Walworth.

Yokers suffered her first setback in nine games as SPU's starter. She stopped five shots. Walworth made four saves for the Eagles, who were outshot by a slim 11-10 margin.

Men's Soccer: Falcons Fall In Regional Final

KUENZI Two Assists

Down two goals at halftime, Seattle Pacific figured they'd just keep firing away, and sooner or later, they'd score a couple goals.

They did – one sooner, and one later. But by the end of a rain-soaked 90 minutes, they were still one goal short.

Jason Swope tallied twice during the first half and Cal State L.A. (15-1-6) held on for a 3-2 victory in the NCAA Division II West Regional men's soccer championship game Saturday night at Interbay Stadium.

The Falcons (14-4-2) were in the postseason for the first time since 2006. It also was the first playoff trip for former SPU player Mark Collings as a coach since he stepping up to the helm beginning with the 2008 season.

“We made some mistakes and they were there to finish them,” Collings said of the Golden Eagles. “They were very opportunistic. Their keeper came up big a couple times, and their center backs both played very well.”

Swope, who tallied three goals in the regional, scored on a shot inside the 6-yard box at 25:35, then doubled the Golden Eagles' lead to 2-0 at 40:48 when he went 1 on 1 against SPU senior goalkeeper Zach Johnson and sent a shot into the back left corner.

The Falcons immediately got back into the game after halftime as defender Brandon Kuenzi took a long throw-in from the left side about 20 yards up from the goal line.

Midfielder Drew Williams headed it on to defender Jon Pearman and from the top left corner of L.A. goalkeeper Waleed Cassis' front porch, Pearman blasted it into the left side at 47:13 to make it 2-1.

Antti Arvola restored the Golden Eagles' two-goal lead at 68:17 when he launched a 26-yard free kick around the right side of a five-man Seattle Pacific wall and into the back right corner.

But the Falcons kept creating, kept shooting, and got within 3-2 at 80:36. Once again, Kuenzi started the play with a long throw-in. This one found forward Tyler Schultz .

Playing near the middle of the 6-yard box, Schultz blasted a shot into the right side.

SPU wound up outshooting the Golden Eagles 18-14 including 11-3 during the second half – with several near-misses.

Men's Basketball: Downs Leads Seattle Pacific Past Mesa

DOWNS MVP

Tournament MVP David Downs scored 26 points including 24 in the second half and Andy Poling, who also earned all-tournament honors, netted 20 leading Seattle Pacific to a 67-55 win over Colorado Mesa in the Dixie State Clarion Classic at Saint George, Utah, Saturday.

Chico State used a 53-point second half to defeat Alaska Fairbanks 84-73 in the Chico State Invitational.

Montana State Billings won its second consecutive game beating Northern New Mexico 98-77 at Alterowitz Gymnasium.

Western Oregon evened its record with a 83-61 win over Hawaii Hilo in the GNAC/PacWest Challenge in Hilo. Saint Martin's finished the tournament with an 0-2 record losing to Chaminade 80-60.

Simon Fraser overcame an 18-point second half deficit to defeat Notre Dame de Namur 74-70 and Western Washington outscored Capilano 104-78.

Seattle Pacific made just 15 of 47 field goal attempts (31.9 percent) in its win, but outscored Mesa 31-15 from the foul line and 18-6 from the arc where it made six of 18.

Downs was three of four on treys and 13 of 14 from the free throw line, while Poling, who had 12 rebounds and three blocks, made 10 of 14 foul shots. Overall, the Falcons converted on 31 of 38 charity tosses.

Colton Burgon led Mesa in points (15), rebounds (8) and blocks (2). The Mavericks outrebounded Seattle Pacific 37-28 but also had 12 more turnovers (23-11).

Amir Carraway and Sean Park had double-doubles in Chico State's win which featured a 20-0 second-half run. Carraway scored 21 points and grabbed a dozen boards, while Park had 12 points and 13 rebounds.

Damario Sims had 13 points for the Wildcats, who dominated Alaska Fairbanks on the backboards 55-32.

Guard Nico Matthews had 10 of UAF's 32 boards, four of its 13 assists and four of its 10 steals. Dominique Brinson led the Nanooks with 19 points, while Stefan Tica and Jarrett Miller each scored 15 points.

Preston Richards came off the bench to score 19 points and grab seven rebounds in MSU Billings' victory.

The Yellowjackets also got 14 points each from Antoine Proctor and Robert Mayes and 11 from Cameron Cusworth.

Robby Trabing matched Richards' rebound total of seven as MSUB controlled the backboards 47-35 and also had a plus nine takeaway advantage (16-25).

Daniel Molina led Northern New Mexico, which slipped to 0-8 on the season, with 17 points.

Kyle Long led five players in double figures in Western Oregon's victory with 18 points, while Kolton Nelson produced a 14-point, 10-rebound double-double.

The Wolves, who shot 54.5 percent (30-55) and outrebounded the Vulcans 41-30, also got 12 points, five assists and four steals from Blair Wheadon.

Jordan Freelander and Kris White both had 10 points on 4-of-4 shooting from the floor.

Zachary Wilde led Hawaii Hilo with 13 points. The Vulcans also got 12 points from Terrell Mack and 10 from Kiel Myers.

Bennie Murray and Matt Cousins keyed Chaminade's win over Saint Martin's. Murray had 29 points and nine rebounds, while Cousins had 18 points and 14 rebounds.

Roger O'Neill scored 11 points and Jeremy Green had 11 for the Saints. Brok Pendleton chipped in with nine points and 12 rebounds.

Javari Williams had 25 points and 11 rebounds in Simon Fraser's victory, while Justin Brown added 23 points. Wesley White paced Notre Dame de Namur with 18 points and nine rebounds.

Rory Blanche scored a career-high 25 points and pulled down 11 rebounds as Western Washington improved to 4-1 with its 26-point win over Capilano. The Vikings were also led by Richard Woodworth with 16 points.

Also in double figures for the Vikings were Zach Henifin with 15 points, Dan Young with 12, John Allen with 11 and Chris Mitchell with 10.

Women's Basketball: Freshman Keys MSUB Victory

Janiel Olson

Freshman forward Janiel Olson had a double-double to lead Montana State Billings to a 77-50 win over Chadron State Saturday in the season opener for the Yellowjackets at Alterowitz Gymnasium.

In Day 2 of the CCAA/GNAC Challenge at Hayward, Calif., GNAC teams earned a split as Seattle Pacific outscored San Francisco State 56-37 after UC San Diego beat Western Washington 79-60 in the earlier game.

UCSD, led by MVP Chelsea Carlisle won the tournament title, while both SPU and WWU posted 1-1 records.

Northwest Nazarene also finished with a 1-1 record in the Metro State Classic by defeating Western State (Colo.) 66-57.

Alaska Anchorage improved to 2-0 with an impressive 95-58 win over Dixie State. Last year Dixie qualified for the NCAA West Regionals. Meanwhile Alaska Fairbanks fell to 0-2 losing at home to Minot State 72-59.

Olson had 13 points and 11 rebounds and also blocked a game-high two blocks to lead Montana State Billings to its victory.

MSUB led by eight points at halftime then doubled up Chadron in the second half outscoring them 38-19.

Bobbi Knudsen led the 'Jackets with 14 points, six assists and three steals. Brooke Tolman had 11 points. Kaitlin Petri paced Chadron with 21 points.

Carlisle scored 27 points and Emily Osga had 22 in UC San Diego's victory. The Tritons, who shot 50.8 percent from the floor, also got 10 points each from Daisy Feder and Lauren Freidenberg.

Katie Colard was the only Western Washington player in double figures netting 14 points. Corinn Waltrip had nine points and five assists for the Vikings.

Rachel Murray and Katie Benson scored 16 and 13 points, respectively, for Seattle Pacific in its victory. Nyesha Sims led the Falcons on the backboards pulling down 11 rebounds.

Osga, Waltrip, Murray and Benson all joined Carlisle on the all-tournament team.

Heather Adams had 18 points, 12 of them from beyond the arc, in Northwest Nazarene's win. Adams, who hit four of six treys, also had five assists.

Also in double figures were Briaunna King and Megan Hingston with 12 points each and Falissa Smith with 10. Hingston made six of nine shots and also led the Crusaders in rebounds (7) and steals (4).

Katie Hall provided most of Western State's offense, scoring 19 points and grabbing 17 rebounds. Jessica Lankston paced Western State's defense with seven steals. The RMAC school, however, shot just 28.1 percent (18-64).

Haley Holmstead scored 21 points connecting on 10 of 15 shots in Alaska Anchorage's victory.

The Seawolves, who made 11 of 18 three-point shots, also got 13 points and 10 rebounds from Hanna Johansson and nine points each from Kaylie Robison, Sasha King and Kylie Burns. King was 3-of-3 on treys.

LaBrea Walker scored 13 points and Kirsten Maria Liana netted 12 for Dixie.

Christina Boag scored 20 points and Carly Boag had a 16-point, 10-rebound double-double to lead Minot State past UAF.

Nicole Hartzog paced the Nanooks with 26 points, while Autumn Greene had 13 points. Greene and Nicole Bozek each had seven rebounds.