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About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 2, 2016)
SPORTS FRIDAY, DECEMBER 2, 2016 1B FOLLOW US ON TWITTER @EOSPORTS College Volleyball Mountaineers sweep pool at nationals Eastern Oregon only team without a loss going into Sweet 16 East Oregonian SIOUX CITY, Iowa — The No. 6 Eastern Oregon volleyball team completed a perfect run through pool play at the NAIA National Championships with a sweep of Georgetown (Ky.) on Thursday at Tyson Events Center. The Mountaineers put the Tigers away 25-16 and 25-18 in the fi rst two sets, then rallied for a 26-24 win to become the only team to go through pool play without losing a set. Eastern Oregon (31-2) saw timely contributions from several players, but were again led on the day by the hitting combo of Amanda Miller and Makayla Lind- burg. Miller, a junior hitter from Kennewick, killed a match-high 15 shots to give her 40 through three Chamberlain Mullins matches. Lindburg, a senior right side from Prineville, brought her tour tally to 39 with 12 kills on Thursday and notched her fourth double-double in the last fi ve matches by adding 10 digs. Setter Rachelle Chamberlain and libero Holli Mullins also continued to rank among the top players at their positions. Chamberlain, a senior from Challis, Idaho, fi nished with 40 assists and ranks second at the tournament with a 13-per-set average. Mullins, a sophomore from Fruitland, Idaho, led EOU with 23 digs and is fourth among defensive players with a 6.9-per-set average. The Mountaineers didn’t trail against the Tigers until the third set, but the fi rst set was tied fi ve times before EOU could pull away. The score was 17-15 after a Mountaineer error, but a 7-0 run provided all the cushion they would need with a trio of kills each from Miller and junior middle Emily Nay (6 kills). The second set was all EOU as they took a 4-0 lead out of the gate and never allowed Georgetown to knot the score. The Tigers pulled See MOUNTAINEERS/2B College Football Rodeo Lots on the line for Huskies Local roper makes debut at WNFR Washington hopes to ride Pac-12 title to playoff berth Rogers in seventh after first performance By JOSH DUBOW Associated Press SANTA CLARA, Calif. — Wash- ington coach Chris Petersen is happy to let others do the politicking and lobbying when it comes to the College Football Playoff. He believes what the fourth-ranked Huskies do on the fi eld will speak loud enough. Washington has its fi nal chance to state its case Friday night in the Pac-12 championship game against No. 9 Colo- rado. “I have confi dence that the powers that be will get these things right,” Petersen said. “I felt that way when I was at Boise and they usually did. We’ll see how this plays out.” Things are looking good for the Huskies (11-1, No. 4 CFP) after they moved up a spot in the playoff rankings this week. One more win and they will likely make the semifi nals in Petersen’s third season at the helm. Washington had not reached double fi gures in wins for a season in the 13 years before Petersen’s arrival. But Petersen has built Washington into a power just like he did at Boise State when he led the Broncos to seven straight double-digit win seasons and two BCS bowl games. “I expected to be good from the second we got here,” he said. “I think that’s what players expect, I think that’s what coaches expect, and when it’s not See PAC-12/2B East Oregonian AP Photo/Ted S. Warren, File In this Nov. 25, 2016, fi le photo, Washington quarterback Jake Browning warms up be- fore an NCAA college football game against Washington State, in Pullman, Wash. The fourth-ranked Huskies take on Colorado in the Pac-12 championship on Friday night in Santa Clara, Calif. Both teams rely heavily on their quarterbacks. LAS VEGAS — On a night when some of the best times and scored were put forth by fi rst-time comers, Helix native Garrett Rogers could only shake his head at what could have been as the fi rst round at the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo concluded at Thomas and Mack Arena. Rogers, a third- year PRCA pro who qualifi ed for his fi rst WNFR as the No. 10 header, made a quick catch on Thursday night but heeler Jake Minor of Ellensburg, Wash., was only able to lasso one hind leg Rogers to saddle the team with a fi ve-second penalty and a 9.3-second time. Without the penalty the team would have been sitting in fi rst place, but would have to settle for seventh. The Canadian team of Levi Thompson and Jeremy Buhler lead the event with 4.4 on one, but there’s still plenty of time to make up ground with nine performances left before the national champions will be crowned. Rogers isn’t the only cowboy with See FINALS RODEO/2B Men’s College Basketball No. 8 Gonzaga breezes past MVSU Oregon State loses on the road Associated Press SPOKANE, Wash. — Josh Perkins and Silas Melson had 15 points apiece as No. 8 Gonzaga remained unde- feated and kept Mississippi Valley State winless with a 97-63 victory Thursday night. All of Perkins’ points came on fi ve fi rst-half 3s. Nigel Williams-Goss chipped in 13 points, fi ve assists and three steals for the Bulldogs (7-0). The Delta Devils (0-9) had an energetic start, but the Bulldogs’ nine 3s built a 21-point halftime lead. Two 3-pointers by Williams-Goss and six points from Jordan Mathews helped the Bulldogs go up fi ve just 4 minutes into the fi rst half. Freshman center Zach Collins had two early dunks, both of which he fl ushed while being fouled. The Zags went on an 11-2 run that included three 3s from Perkins. The redshirt sophomore hit his fourth and fi fth 3s shortly thereafter. Gonzaga led by 21 points at the break and kept the game out of reach the rest of the way. Rashaan Surles led the Delta Devils with 13 points. Gonzaga faces No. 16 Arizona at the Staples Center on Saturday, then returns home to play in-state Pac-12 opponent Washington on Dec. 7. MISSISSIPPI STATE 74, OREGON STATE 57 — At Starkville, Miss., Quin- ndary Weatherspoon scored 21 points and Mississippi State used a big fi rst half to beat Oregon State 74-57 on Thursday night. Weatherspoon had missed the previous two games because of a left wrist injury. The sophomore guard was 6 of 7 from the fi eld and 4 of 5 on 3-pointers and had four steals. Mario Kegler added 12 points for Mississippi State (5-2) while Lamar Peters and Eli Wright scored 10 apiece. Stephen Thompson Jr. scored 20 points for Oregon State (3-5), Jaquori McLaughlin had 12 and Cheikh N’Diaye added 10. Mississippi State jumped to a 13-3 lead behind a pair of 3-pointers by Weatherspoon and hit 7 of 9 from beyond the arc and 58.3 percent from the fl oor for a 45-19 halftime lead. Oregon State shot just 33 percent in the fi rst half and had 12 turnovers. Gonzaga forward Zach Collins (32) dunks over Mississip- pi Valley State forward Vacha Vaughn (0) during the fi rst half of an NCAA college basketball game in Spokane, Wash., Thursday, Dec. 1, 2016. AP Photo/ Young Kwak Sports shorts Gronkowski to have back surgery, will miss at least 8 weeks FOXBOROUGH, Mass. (AP) — Rob Gronkowski’s season might be over. The star Patriots tight end is having surgery for a herniated disk in his back, a person with knowledge of the details tells The Associated Press. He’s likely to be out for eight weeks or more. The Super Bowl is scheduled for Houston on Feb. 5, should the Patriots get that far. The injury is believed to have Gronkowski occurred during the Patriots’ loss to the Seahawks on Nov. 13, in which Gronkowski said he received “probably one of the hardest I’ve got hit in my career” from safety Earl Thomas. Gronkowski has missed three games this season. He has 25 catches for 540 yards and three touchdowns. He’s also dealt with a hamstring injury in 2016. “I’m sick and tired of the reffi ng in this league right now. I’m sick and tired of it. You’ve got holding calls all over the place that people don’t want to call. Bradford gets hit in the face at the end of the game and you don’t call it. I’m not laying this loss on reffi ng, but at some point it’s got to get better.” — Brian Robison Minnesota Vikings DE after his team’s 17-15 loss to the Dallas Cowboys on Monday Night Football. It was the 11th win in a row for Dallas. Monster Energy to replace Sprint as NASCAR title sponsor LAS VEGAS (AP) NASCAR has announced Monster Energy will take over as title sponsor of its top series in 2017, ending a lengthy process of fi nding a replacement for Sprint. It was not immediately announced what Corona, the California-based Monster Beverage Corpora- tion will pay for the naming rights deal or how long the agreement runs. NASCAR Chairman Brian France made the announcement Thursday at the Wynn Las Vegas, site of Friday’s season-ending awards banquet. The cellular company Sprint ended its 13-year run as title sponsor following the 2016 season, which ended last month with Jimmie Johnson winning his record-tying seventh premier series title. THIS DATE IN SPORTS 1977 — Veterinarian Mark Gerard is indicted in a horse- switching scandal. Cinzano, a purportedly dead 4-year-old champion colt, won a race on Sept. 23 at Belmont Park, under the name of Lebon, a 57-1 long shot. 2002 — Oakland’s Tim Brown and Jerry Rice take turns rewriting the NFL record book in a 26-20 win over the Jets. Brown becomes the third player with 1,000 receptions and the third with 14,000 yards receiving and on the very next play Rice scores his record 192nd TD catch and goes over 1,000 yards for a record 14th season. Contact us at 541-966-0838 or sports@eastoregonian.com