NW Briefs | Undefeated WWU wins tournament

Outside hitter Megan Amundson and middle blocker Angie Alvord earned all-tournament honors as nationally ranked Western Washington defeated host and No. 12 Minnesota Duluth on Saturday to take the title at the Bulldog Classic.

The Vikings beat Minnesota Duluth 21-25, 25-21, 25-19, 25-20 after rallying to edge New Haven 24-26, 26-28, 27-25, 25-18, 15-9.

The Vikings, rated No. 9 in the latest American Volleyball Coaches Association/NCAA Division II Top 25 Poll, remained unbeaten at 8-0 with their second straight tourney title and the best start in school history.

Western led 18-17 in the first set against the Bulldogs before being outscored 8-3. The Vikings never trailed in winning the second and third sets, and rallied to take the fourth set after being behind 15-10.

"That's the best all-around match that we've had," said Western coach Diane Flick. "They've raised the bar for me and that means higher expectations, which is both a blessing and a curse for them."

Amundson posted a match-high 20 kills and Alvord had 12 kills on .500 hitting and four blocks. Middle blocker Tiana Roma (Sr., Edmonds/Edmonds-Woodway) added 13 kills.

Seattle U. men

win in overtime

Wesley Van Hooser took advantage of a pass from Andrew Kreiter, tapping the ball into the net 3 ½ minutes into the second overtime to give the Seattle University men's soccer team a 2-1 victory over the Florida Atlantic Owls in Boca Raton, Fla.

Seattle University jumped on the board first when, in the 18th minute, Sean Morris sent a pass to Kyle Peterman, who blasted a shot from outside the box past Owl goalie Phillip Lamarre for his second goal of the season.

Seattle U. improves to 5-1.

More volleyball

Washington State swept Northwestern University in the finale of the Cougar Challenge tournament in Pullman. Jackie Albright had 11 kills for WSU (6-4). Kelly Hyder added 18 digs.

Earlier Saturday, WSU swept Montana State. WSU's Brittany Johnson led the match with 14 kills and four blocks. Cassie Robbins added 9 kills and four blocks.

• The Gonzaga University women's volleyball team dropped a 3-1 decision to Weber State in the championship match of the Bulldog Tournament Saturday in Spokane. Weber State won 25-20, 21-25, 25-23, 26-24. Gonzaga (4-7) placed two players on the All-Tournament Team: senior Elaina Renius and freshman Denise Van de Mortel.

• Portland State made few mistakes on its way to a 3-0 victory over Seattle University in the Portland State Volleyball Showcase at the Stott Center.

Libby Graff and Kaytlyn Dill led Seattle U. (2-8) with seven kills each, and Jamie Mellies added 20 assists and six digs.

• Central Washington's Erin Norris had 15 kills and three service aces to lead the Wildcats to a four-set victory over No. 8 Augustana College in the Wildcats' final match at the Concordia Radisson Roseville Classic in St. Paul, Minn.

The Wildcats finished the tournament with a 1-3 record but improved to 8-4 overall with the win over the Vikings. Central opened play on Saturday with a three-set loss to 13th-ranked Southwest Minnesota State.

• Northwest University was swept by Southern Oregon in Kirkland. Andrea Cotton had seven digs for Northwest (3-8, 0-4 Cascade Conference).

• Eastern Washington was swept by UNLV in its final match at the Oregon Classic in Eugene. Ashley Hamilton had a .727 hitting percentage for the Eagles (3-6), and she had 26 assists. Allison Reinstein added seven kills.

Earlier Saturday, EWU was swept by Oregon. Hayley Hills had 15 kills for the Eagles in that match.

• Gonzaga defeated San Diego State 3-1 at the Bulldog Volleyball Tournament in Spokane. The Bulldogs, who are now 2-0 at the tournament after sweeping UTEP Friday evening, hold a 4-6 overall record on the season.

The Bulldogs' Denise Van de Mortel dished out 52 assists. Mortel added five digs, three block assists and three kills in Gonzaga's victory.

More men's soccer

Western Washington scored two quick goals in the first half and then hung on for a 2-1 victory over Warner Pacific in a nonconference match at Orca Field on the Whatcom CC campus.

The win snapped a three-game losing streak, all to NCAA Division II nationally ranked teams, for the Vikings (2-3-0).

Western's Tyler Bjork and Samir Vejo each scored within 76 seconds early in the first half.

• Northwest University scored a 5-2 nonconference victory over Walla Walla University. Senior Micah Williams scored two goals for Northwest U. (2-2-2) with Wilbur Velasco, Shayn Fite, and freshman Luke Fischer each scoring a goal.

Women's soccer

Claire Morgan scored two goals in the final 15 minutes, including the game-winner with four seconds remaining, as Western Washington fought back to defeat Dixie State College 2-1 in a nonconference contest at Orca Field on the Whatcom CC campus.

The Vikings improved to 4-2-0, while Dixie State fell to 3-3-2.

• Central Washington shut out Notre Dame de Namur in Belmont, Calif. Miranda Heslep and Serena Tomaso scored for CWU (3-1-2).

• Northwest University played to a scoreless tie with Lewis and Clark in Kirkland. Shauna Marshall took three shots on goal for Northwest (1-1-2), and Northwest goalkeeper Jessica Kane had two saves.

Cross country

Western Washington's Sarah Porter won the Central Washington University Cross Country Invitational held on the Apple Ridge Course. She finished the 6-kilometer race in 22 minutes, 21 seconds. Both the Western men and women won the team competitions.

Central Washington's Marcie Mullen finished third in 23:49.

Western's Bennett Grimes finished the men's 8-kilometer course in 26:33 for third place.

Tennis

Husky David Chu defeated Skyler Tateishi 6-4, 6-2 in the Amy Yee Open. Chu is the No. 2 seed and Tateishi the No. 3.

Hockey

The Seattle Thunderbirds defeated the Portland Winter Hawks 4-2 at Kent Valley Ice Centre in the Thunderbirds' last exhibition game of the preseason.

The T-Birds open the season at 7 p.m. Sept. 19 on the road against the Prince George Cougars.

The T-Birds acquired center Jonathan Parker Saturday morning from the Vancouver Giants in exchange for a 10th round selection in the 2009 WHL Bantam Draft.

Parker is a 17-year-old right-handed center from Solana Beach, Calif. Last season he played 62 games with the L.A. Kings Midget AA team and had 40 goals and 45 assists for 85 points.

Compiled from sports-information reports and other sources.