Locally: Led by Sarah Penner, Gonzaga volleyball lands five on all-WCC team

By From staff reports

Five members of the Gonzaga volleyball team, led by senior Sarah Penner, were named All-West Coast Conference.

It’s the fourth honor for Penner, an outside hitter who was named to the second team along with sophomore Alyssa Hughes. Sophomore outside hitter/setter Tia Andaya, junior Kennedy Croft and senior Chapin Gray, both outside hitters, earned honorable mention.

Penner, who was named to the WCC All-Freshman team in 2017 and honorable mention All-WCC the last two seasons, led the Zags in kills (191), kills per set (2.65), service aces (26) and attempts (590) while ranking second in digs (217), digs per set (3.01) and total blocks (48).

Hughes led the second-best blocking program in the WCC with a conference-high 72 total blocks and was third in solo blocks (nine) and blocks per set (1.07). The middle blocker was fourth in the WCC with a .328 hitting percentage.

• Washington State sophomore middle Magda Jehlářová, who led Pac-12 volleyball in hitting percentage (.415) and solo blocks (17), was named the conference defensive player of the week for the third time this season and fifth of her career for the week of March 29-April 4. She had a career-high-tying 10 blocks in a 3-1 WSU win over Arizona.

• College of Idaho junior outside hitter Chloe Knudson (Lake City HS/North Idaho College) was named the Cascade Collegiate Conference women’s volleyball player of the week on April 5 after she averaged 5.88 digs per set in a weekend series with Corban, including a career-high 30 in one match. She also had three aces and two assists during the weekend.

• The Cascade Collegiate Conference women’s outdoor track athlete of the week on April 5 was Eastern Oregon senior Olivia Lane from Clarkston, who hit the NAIA “A” qualifying standard in the heptathlon in the home meet, winning the event with 4,099 points.

• Whitworth is ranked 11th in the nation and second in the West Region in the latest NCAA Division III Men’s Outdoor Track & Field National Rating Index by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association .

• Eastern Washington freshman Scout Mathews was named Big Sky Conference women’s tennis player of the week after she picked up a win at No. 2 doubles and No. 2 singles, leading the Eagles to a 4-3 victory over Idaho to open conference play at home on April 3.

• Quynn Duong, a Gonzaga junior who led the Bulldogs to a pair of runner-up team finishes, was named the West Coast Conference women’s golfer of the month for March.

Duong finished fourth at 7-over-par 223 in the 54-hole Jackrabbit Invitational March 8-9 in Boulder City, Nevada, co-leading the tournament with nine birdies. She was second in the Red Rocks Invitational in Sedona, Arizona, March 20-21 at 2-under 214 for 54 holes, tying for second in birdies with 11. She finished the month with a 72.83 stroke average.

• The Whitworth men finished third and the women fourth in the Northwest Conference golf Spring Classic April 3-4 at Wine Valley Golf Club in Walla Walla.

Senior Reilly Hegarty shot 2-over-par 143 to tie for third and lead the Pirates men to a 24-over 600, 22 shots back of winner Willamette. First-year golfer Madeline Hahn tied for ninth at 22-over 166 for a Pirates women’s team that finished 692, one shot out of second. Sophomore Quincy McDeid (North Central) was Whitworth’s second finisher in 11th at 171.

• The Community Colleges of Spokane women swept individual and team titles at the Columbia Basin Spring Invitational April 4-5 while the Sasquatch men shared medalist honors with two North Idaho golfers and finished second behind the Cardinals in the team competition.

Courtney Jackson of CCS shot 155 (79-76) as the women’s medalist, leading the Sasquatch to a 474 and 25-stroke team victory. NIC was third at 515..

CCS’s Zach Martin (70-73) and NIC’s James Swan (70-73) and Jared Smith (74-69) shared men’s medal honors at 143. NIC had a 592-601 margin over Spokane for the team title.

• Gonzaga junior Kristen Garcia set a school women’s program 5,000-meter record at the Northwest Distance Jamboree on April 3 in Eugene, Oregon, winning the event with a time of 16 minutes, 10.72 seconds. The previous program record was 16:16.88 set by Jessica Mildes in 2015, also in Eugene.

• Two members of the Community Colleges of Spokane men’s team collected weekly honors from the Northwest Athletic Conference for their performances in the Whitworth H.I.R. Invitational on April 3.

Jake Schattner, a freshman from Lake City, competed in four events, turning in the best times for junior college athletes in the 100 (3rd, 11.17) and 200 (5th, 22.79), long-jumping 19-5¼ and running a leg on the 4x400 relay.

Bradley Fillis, a freshman from Central Valley, put the shot 48-11½ (3rd) and threw the hammer 145-5 (8th), both the best marks for junior college athletes in the meet.

• For the 41st straight quarter, dating to the fall of 2007, Eastern Washington student-athletes have combined for a 3.0 GPA or above. Winter quarter was a collective 3.35. Eleven of EWU’s 12 programs had at least a cumulative 3.21 GPA with seven of 12 with at least a 3.49.

Women’s tennis and women’s cross country had the top GPAs at 3.70 and 3.67, respectively. Men’s sports were led by tennis at 3.62 and track and field at 3.49. Fifty-two student-athletes posted a perfect 4.0 with an additional 111 between 3.5 and 3.99 GPA.

• Former University of Idaho standout Sophie Hausmann started hot and stayed consistent in collecting her first professional victory March 23-28, winning the Insurance Office of America (IOA) Championships in Beaumont, California. The event is part of the Symetra Tour, which will stop at Circling Raven Golf Club in Worley, Idaho, in August.

Hausmann carded 4-under-par 68s in each of her first two rounds. She finished the 54-hole tournament with a 2-under 70 for a 10-under 206 and a three-stroke victory to collect $22,500.