Pullman, WV to play for GNL soccer title

The stage is set for Thursday’s Great Northern League first-place girls soccer showdown between Pullman and West Valley.

Both teams improved their league records to 12-1 Tuesday afternoon and they’ll end the regular season in Pullman with the championship on the line. Not far behind is Cheney, which also was victorious.

Pullman’s Greyhounds (13-2 overall) won 3-0 at fourth-place Deer Park (8-7, 7-6). All the goals came in the first half, with Annalisa Druffel scoring a pair unassisted.

Host WV (13-1-1) topped Medical Lake (7-8, 6-7) 5-1. Kaley Way scored her 16th and 17th goals in the GNL, one in each half, giving her a season total of 19. DeeDee Garbe scored her seventh season goal and had her 12th assist.

Meanwhile, Cheney’s Kellie Zakrzewski fired home five goals during the Blackhawks’ (11-4, 10-3) 8-1 victory at home against Clarkston (2-11, 2-10). Zakrzewski has a league-high 25 goals for the year, 22 of them in GNL games.

During the other league game, Colville (1-13, 1-11) got its first victory, defeating Riverside (1-14, 1-12) at home 2-1. Sara Melvin, on an assist by Whitley Luu at the 2-minute mark, and Luu each scored for a 2-0 Indians lead before the midpoint of the first half.

West Valley defeated Pullman earlier in the year, by shootout, and also has a shootout victory over Cheney. The Blackhawks, who lost twice to the Greyhounds, defeated the Eagles in their rematch.

District, which determines two State 2A qualifiers, begins Tuesday.

Northeast A League playoff: Ashley Hayes scored the first two goals to lead Lakeside (Nine Mile Falls) to a 5-1 win over visiting Freeman. Lakeside advances to play at 3 p.m. Friday against Newport.

Volleyball

Greater Spokane League: East Valley and Shadle Park were victorious in their final matches of regular-season play and finished with identical 7-3 records to become the top two seeds to next week’s District 8 3A tournament.

The home-standing EV Knights defeated Gonzaga Prep (4-6) in four games, with Ally Riggin pounding down 17 kills. Kirsten Kelly added 21 digs and Kelsey Kurtz had 38 assists. Morgan Nitta had 41 assists for the Bullpups. Shelby Wendt had 16 kills.

Shadle swept host University (4-6) 25-13, 25-14, 25-14. Kaylee Rector had 22 digs and Lindsday Niemeier 22 assists and three service aces for Shadle. Amy Hallett had 19 digs for the Titans.

EV, by virtue of its league win over the Highlanders, is top seed in district. Shadle is No. 2. Mt. Spokane and North Central are also qualified and all four will advance to regionals.

Mead (9-1) beat visiting Mt. Spokane (6-4), 20-25, 25-15, 26-24, 25-17, dropping them to third district seed. The Panthers, No. 2 seed to the 4A district next week behind idle league champion Lewis and Clark, have never lost to Mt. Spokane.

Emma Barrington had 41 assists, leading to Alexis Olgard’s 20 kills, and two service aces. Kylie McCluskey had 12 digs.

Host NC (2-8) defeated Ferris (1-9) 25-20, 25-23, 22-25, 25-22. Seniors Sydney Cressey (33 assists and Ashley Sillivan (14 kills) led the way. Kiley Kamitomo had 12 kills and four aces for Ferris.

Great Northern League: West Valley (12-1) swept visiting Colville (7-6) 25-22, 25-23, 25-13 to remain tied with Pullman for first place with one league match remaining. Alyssa Wold had 10 kills along with 23 assists to lead the Eagles.

Pullman (12-1) won in Clarkston (4-9) 25-21, 25-13, 25-17 as Katie Guettinger had 33 assists. Riverside (7-6) tied Colville by winning at Medical Lake (2-11) 25-14, 25-19, 27-25. Joni Nagy had a triple double with 10 kills, aces and digs. Cheney (6-7) continued its late-season surge with a five-game win at Deer Park (2-11).

Cheney’s Jenna Hatch had 18 digs and five aces, while Deer Park’s Stephanie Ruygrok had an exceptional night in the back row with 39 digs and Nichole Miller had 15 kills.

Northeast A League: Newport defeated visiting Chewelah 25-22, 27-25, 25-20 to secure the fourth and final berth in Saturday’s district tournament at West Valley.

The Grizzlies play regular-season champion Lakeside (Nine Mile Falls) at 11 a.m. Kettle Falls plays runner-up Freeman at the same time. Two teams advance.

Football

The East-West Shrine Bowl may remain in Great Falls, Mont., after lawyers for the Shriners of North America said a decision to move the game to Butte violated the organization’s bylaws.

The board that oversees the all-star game voted 5-4 Saturday to move the matchup from Great Falls, where it has been held for 62 years. But the Shriners’ general counsel has since sent an e-mail to the board, saying the decision was void.

Graduating seniors are invited to play in the statewide game, which raises money for the Shrine pediatric hospital in Spokane.