Whitworth men’s soccer remains undefeated

Will Wren scored a pair of first-half goals to lead the Whitworth Pirates (4-0-1, 1-0) to a 2-0 victory over the visiting Linfield Wildcats (2-2, 0-1) in a Northwest Conference men’s soccer opener on Saturday.

Mike Chavez assisted on Wren’s first tally at the 14:28 mark and Anders Nostdahl picked up an assist on Wren’s second goal at 25:46.

• Glenn Paden had a goal and an assist to propel the Oregon State Beavers (3-2-1) to a 3-0 nonconference win over the Gonzaga Bulldogs (2-3) in Corvallis, Ore.

Paden assisted on Emery Welshman’s netter at 36:41 and capped the scoring for the Beavers with his first goal of the season at 71:51.

Volleyball

The Washington State Cougars (10-2) ran their winning streak to nine with a 23-25, 25-8, 25-14, 25-21 win over the Air Force Academy Falcons at the Air Force Academy Invitational in Colorado Springs, Colo.

Jaicee Harris led the Cougars with a match-high 23 kills, while hitting .383. Rachel Todorovich added 15 kills and hit .565.

• The Gonzaga Bulldogs split a pair of matches at the ASU Invitational in Tempe, Ariz.

GU cruised past the UC Riverside Highlanders (4-8) 25-20, 25-13, 25-20 in the opener.

Savannah Blinn finished with a match-high 12 kills and a .529 hitting percentage for the Bulldogs.

In the nightcap, Arizona State (10-2) defeated the Bulldogs 25-20, 23-25, 25-11, 25-13 behind 24 kills from Macey Gardner.

Blinn’s 14 kills topped GU (8-5).

• Meredith Hays had a match-high 22 kills to help guide the visiting New Mexico State Aggies to a 25-19, 25-19, 21-25, 16-25, 15-8 win over the Idaho Vandals in a Western Athletic Conference opener.

• Jackie Harvey had 15 kills and Jenni Brehove had 39 assists to carry the 11th-ranked Puget Sound Loggers (7-2, 2-0) to a 25-19, 25-23, 25-18 sweep over the Whitworth Pirates (4-5, 0-2) in Northwest Conference play in Tacoma.

Freshman Nicole Leonard paced Whitworth with 13 kills and 18 digs.

• The Community Colleges of Spokane Sasquatch split a pair of games at the Spokane Crossover tournament at SFCC.

The Sasquatch dropped the opener to Tacoma by three straight 25-23 scores, before bouncing back to defeat Columbia Basin 28-26, 25-16, 26-24.

Kate Hart and Annie Arnzen made the all-tournament team for the Sasquatch. Tacoma’s Ellen Andersen was named MVP.

Women’s soccer

Amy Sterk found the net just 11:07 into the match and Tiara Pajimola scored at the 38:29 mark to lift the Whitworth Pirates (2-4, 2-0) to a 2-0 win over the visiting Lewis & Clark Pioneers (0-5, 0-2) in Northwest Conference play.

Carly Schilperoort and Sterk picked up assists for the Pirates, while keeper Andrea Stump made seven saves to notch the shutout.

• Emilee Cordon finished with two goals and two assists, Anna Valentine and Kellsi Parson each scored twice and Alyssa Allen added a goal and two assists to propel the visiting North Idaho Cardinals to a 10-1 win over an Idaho Vandals club team.

Jeanette Foster averted a shutout for the Vandals with an unassisted goal in the 71st minute.

Cross country

The Gonzaga Bulldogs women placed five runners in the top 10 and breezed to the team title at the West Coast Preview in Portland.

Emily Thomas led the way for GU with a third-place finish in 21 minutes, 12 seconds over 6,000 meters. Gonzaga’s Lindsey Drake (21:22.69) was fourth, Maggie Jones (21:22.96) fifth, Lauren Bergam (21:33.43) eighth, and Amelia Evans (21:38.28) ninth.

The Bulldogs easily outdistanced runner-up Loyola Marymount 29-53. Washington State’s Carline Austin was the individual winner with a time of 21:03.97.

The Gonzaga men scored 73 and placed third behind Portland (22) and Chico State (63). Tate Kelly paced the Bulldogs with a 12th-place finish in 23:39.15. Portland’s Scott Fauble won the race in 23:15.09 over 8,000 meters.

• The Eastern Washington Eagles men placed sixth, while the women finished seventh at the Sundodger Invitational in Seattle.

Freshman David Thor paced the Eagles men with a 19th-place showing in 24:55.74 over 8,000 meters. The EWU women were led by Berenice Penaloza, who finished 39th in 23:10.22 over 6,000 meters.

Also at the meet, the Whitworth Pirates men finished sixth and the women were ninth.

The Pirates men were led by Taylor Steele, who finished 43rd in 26:06.61 over 8,000 meters. The women were led by Christina Anderson, who placed 20th out of 213 runners with a time of 22:58.06 over 6,000 meters.

Junior hockey

Nicholas Fidanza scored a pair of goals to lift the Chase Heat to a 4-2 victory over the visiting Spokane Braves (0-2) in KIJHL action at Chase, British Columbia.

Bobby LaRue and Matt Thurston scored for Spokane.