Polk County Sports
14A Polk County Itemizer-Observer • September 13, 2017
WESTERN OREGON ROUNDUP
Volleyball team splits matches at home tournament
Itemizer-Observer staff report
MONMOUTH — Western
Oregon University’s volley-
ball team went 2-2 at the Di-
vision II West Region Show-
case on Thursday, Friday
and Saturday.
The Wolves (4-3 overall)
opened the tournament
with a 25-12, 25-21, 25-23
win over Cal State San Mar-
cos on Thursday. Alisha Bet-
tinson had a match-high 17
kills.
Mackenzie Bowen record-
ed a team-high 13 digs.
WOU lost to Chaminade
18-25, 25-18, 27-25, 26-24 on
Friday.
Western Oregon opened
Saturday with a 16-25, 25-22,
18-25, 25-21, 15-3 victory
over Fresno Pacific on Satur-
day before falling to Cal
State East Bay 18-25, 32-34,
25-15, 25-18, 15-9.
Bettinson was named to
the all-tournament team
after recording 66 kills and
47 digs during the week-
end.
The Wolves open Great
Northwest Athletic Confer-
ence play on the road, trav-
eling to Saint Martin’s on
Thursday and Seattle Pacific
on Saturday.
MEN’S CROSS-COUNTRY
PLACES THIRD AT HOME
MEET: Western Oregon’s men’s
cross-country team finished
third at the Ash Creek Invita-
tional on Friday afternoon.
The Wolves finished behind
Simon Fraser and Alaska An-
chorage in the team stand-
ings. Thomas Normandeau led
the Wolves with a 10th-place
finish, completing the 6.2-kilo-
meter course with a time of 19
minutes, 18.5 seconds. Alan
Ekanger placed 16th in
19:25.1.
The women’s squad finished
ninth in the team standings.
Cassie McKinney led the
Wolves with a 33rd-place fin-
ish. McKinney completed the
4.6-kilometer race in 17:52.3.
Felicia Covey took 46th in
18:19.9.
Western Oregon is off until
Sept. 23, when the Wolves will
compete at the San Francisco
State Invitational.
WOMEN’S SOCCER SPLITS
MATCHES: Western Oregon’s
women’s soccer team picked
up its first win of the season,
defeating Chaminade 2-0 on
Sunday.
Alyssa Tomasini scored both
goals for the Wolves — break-
ing a 0-0 tie in the 63rd minute.
WOU (1-3 overall) lost to
Hawaii Pacific 3-1 on Friday.
Kaili Brundage gave the Wolves
a 1-0 lead in the 11th minute,
but Hawaii Pacific scored three
goals in 10 minutes in the sec-
ond half to earn the victory.
Western Oregon opens
GNAC play at top-ranked West-
ern Washington Saturday at 4
p.m.
FOOTBALL RALLY FALLS
SHORT: Western Oregon (0-2
overall, 0-1 GNAC) put together
a late rally, but the Wolves lost
to Central Washington 30-23
on Saturday afternoon.
The Wildcats built a 30-10
lead in the fourth quarter be-
fore the Wolves pulled close.
Linebacker Bo Highburger
recovered a fumble and re-
turned it 79 yards for a touch-
down with five minutes to play.
A 57-yard touchdown pass
from quarterback Nick Duck-
worth to Torreahno Sweet
brought the Wolves to within
one possession with 1:27 to
play. Central Washington re-
covered the onside kick to pre-
serve the victory.
Duckworth finished the
game with 284 yards and two
touchdowns.
Receiver Paul Revis had 12
catches for 114 yards.
Western Oregon will play at
Western New Mexico Saturday
at 11 a.m.
The Wolves’ home-opener
will be Sept. 23 at 1 p.m.
against Humboldt State.
LUKAS EGGEN/ Itemizer-Observer
Western Oregon sophomore Cassie McKinney (241) races past a pack of runners during
the Ash Creek Invitational at Western Oregon University on Friday afternoon.
CENTRAL ROUNDUP
Boys soccer defeats Barlow, improves to 3-0
Itemizer-Observer staff report
GRESHAM — Central’s
boys soccer team defeated
Barlow 3-1 on Thursday to
remain undefeated (3-0).
Eduardo Gonzalez, Evan
Hoover and Christian Lua
scored for the Panthers.
“We started the game a
little slow and gradually
picked up the pace,” coach
Joe Orozco said. “We start-
ed moving and passing the
ball better and kept the
pressure on them. We
didn’t let them create any
good plays.”
Gonzalez scored on a
header to put the Panthers
up 1-0 in the first half.
“After that, we played
more relaxed, but kept the
p re s s u re o n t h e m t h e
whole game,” Orozco said.
Hoover scored in the
second half, thanks to a
pass from Ceja. Lua scored
the Panthers’ third goal
with about 10 minutes left
in the match, Orozco said.
“We dominated most of
the second half. Our pass-
ing was way better than the
first half,” he said.
Central played North
Marion Tuesday after press
time. The Panthers host Cas-
cade Thursday at 5:30 p.m.
F O OT B A L L FA L L S TO
MOUNTAIN VIEW: Central’s
football team lost to Mountain
View 28-21 on Friday.
The Panthers fell behind 21-
0 in the third quarter before
seeing a rally fall short.
Quarterback Peter Menda-
zona threw for 248 yards and
three touchdowns. Jesse
Cable had four catches for 138
yards and two touchdowns.
Running back Hunter Chase
had 11 carries for 69 yards.
Central (1-1 overall) hosts
Glencoe Friday at 7 p.m.
CROSS-COUNTRY PLACES
17th, 18th AT ASH CREEK:
Central’s boys cross-country
team placed 17th at the Ash
Creek Invitational on Saturday,
while the girls squad finished
18th.
Bailie Hartford led the girls
with a 49th-place finish. Hart-
ford completed the 5,000-
meter course in 21 minutes,
41.37 seconds. Naomi Vega
took 90th in 23:07.80.
Jonathon Brown led the
boys team with a 62nd-place
finish in 17:57.72. Jaydon Ay-
delotte placed 74th in
18:08.24.
The Panthers will compete
at the MWC preview meet at
Willamette Mission State Park
in Brooks on Sept. 20 at 3 p.m.
VOLLEYBALL SPLITS
OPENING MATCHES: Central’s
volleyball team opened Mid-
Willamette Conference play
with a 19-25, 25-21, 25-19, 14-
25, 15-13 loss to Silverton on
Sept. 5 before beating South
Albany 25-12, 22-25, 25-16,
25-8 on Thursday.
“Our loss to Silverton was
tough,” coach Claudine Men-
dazona said. “We had a lot of
great, long rallies that we won,
but unfortunately in the end,
we have little things we have
to clean up to get the W.”
Central responded with a
victory over the Rebels, which
saw Krista Omlid record 14
kills and 21 digs. Sydney Nash
had 32 assists.
The Panthers (3-1 overall, 1-
1 MWC) played Crescent Valley
Tuesday after press time.
Central hosts Lebanon
Thursday at 6 p.m. The Pan-
thers will compete at the Dal-
las Tournament Saturday at 8
a.m. before playing at Dallas
Tuesday at 6 p.m.