Cardinals win at nationals, play for fifth place today

| November 20, 2010 8:00 PM

VOLLEYBALL

WEST PLAINS, Mo. - Sophomore Tina Strahinic had 20 kills and 21 digs as the sixth-seeded North Idaho Cardinals defeated 10th-seeded Eastern Arizona 25-23, 24-26, 25-13, 22-25, 15-12 on Friday to advance to the fifth-sixth place game of the NJCAA tournament at Missouri State University.

"All of our sophomores played huge today," NIC coach Colleen Frohlich said. "The girls responded well after yesterday."

Kaylee Ponce had 13 kills, Esther Timofeyev had 12 kills and three blocks, Fei Gao 15 digs, Gabriela Rifilato 43 assists, Brenna Peterson 25 assists and Kyona Hunt 15 digs for NIC (28-7), which faces top-seeded Miami Dade College today at 12:30 p.m.

"They were undefeated prior to the tournament," Frohlich said of Miami Dade. "They're a very powerful, athletic team. We're going to take the attitude of putting it all out on the court and coming out a winner."

Salt Lake, the No. 8 seed from the Scenic West Athletic Conference, fell to fourth-seed Western Nebraska 27-25, 21-25, 25-23, 25-19 in a national semifinal and will play San Jacinto today for third place at 2:30 p.m.

Friday

Match 13 - No. 11 Iowa Western d. No. 14 Jefferson College 25-16, 17-25, 22-25, 25-18, 15-11.

Match 14 - No. 7 Florida-State Jacksonville d. No. 15 Barton County 26-24, 24-26, 25-21, 17-25, 16-14.

Match 15 - No. 9 Midland College d. No. 16 Gadsden State 25-15, 25-23, 25-14.

Match 16 - No. 13 Wallace State d. No. 12 Temple College, 25-13, 16-25, 25-19, 25-23.

Match 17 - No. 6 North Idaho d. No. 10 Eastern Arizona 25-23, 24-26, 25-13, 22-25, 15-12.

Match 18 - No. 1 Miami Dade d. No. 5 Blinn College 18-25, 5-14, 25-11, 25-14.

Match 19 - No. 11 Iowa Western d. No. 7 Florida State-Jacksonville 27-29, 25-17, 25-22, 25-21.

Match 20 - No. 9 Midland College d. No. 13 Wallace State 25-13, 20-25, 25-20, 28-26.

Match 21 - No. 3 San Jacinto d. No. 2 Western Wyoming 25-21, 25-21, 25-21.

Match 22 - No. 4 Western Nebraska d. No. 8 Salt Lake 27-25, 21-25, 25-23, 25-19.

Saturday

Times PST

Match 23 - No. 11 Iowa Western (44-7) vs. No. 9 Midland College (35-6), 8 a.m. (ninth-tenth place)

Match 24 - No. 10 Eastern Arizona (31-6) vs. No. 5 Blinn College (31-7), 10 a.m. (seventh-eighth place)

Match 25 - No. 6 North Idaho (28-7) vs. No. 1 Miami Dade (35-1), 12:30 p.m. (fifth-sixth place)

Match 26 - No. 2 Western Wyoming (39-6) vs. No. 8 Salt Lake (28-7), 2:30 p.m. (third-fourth place)

Match 27 - No. 3 San Jacinto (29-9) vs. No. 4 Western Nebraska (42-4), 4:30 p.m. (national championship)

NOTE: Matches can be seen live and accessed via archive once the tournament begins at www.njcaa.org/tv and www.psblive.com.

WRESTLING

COEUR d'ALENE - Justin Korthius had two pins and a decision for the second-ranked Cardinals as they defeated Clackamas 40-12, Cerritos 28-17 and Yakima Valley 31-15 in the Cardinal Duals at Christianson Gymnasium.

"We're kind of beat up right now, but all teams are," NIC coach Pat Whitcomb said. "Marcel (Dubose) and Braden (Mowry) are going to be out this weekend to rest until after Thanksgiving. All in all, it's good to get a few wins and be able to throw some backups in there."

NIC will host the HUB Open today in Liberty Lake.

North Idaho 40, Clackamas 12

125 - Kyle McCrite (NIC), w. by forfeit. 133 - Brock Banta, NIC, p. Jordan O'Neal, 2:49. 141 - Cody Randall, CCC, p. Brett Gast, 1:53. 149 - McKray Jones, NIC, w. by forfeit. 157 - Jeremy Bommarito, NIC, tf. Daniel Nelson, 16-0. 165 - Derek Mestrovich, CCC, d. Jake Mason, 4-2. 174 - Tarrance Williams, CCC, d. Jesse Nielsen, 3-2. 184 - Justin Korthuis, NIC, p. Justin Martin, 2:36. 197 - Jamelle Jones, NIC, p. Jordan Krich, 5:53. 285 - Nicholas Wasierski, NIC, w. by forfeit.

North Idaho 28, Cerritos 17

125 - Kyle McCrite, NIC, d. Estevan Cabanas, 8-7. 133 - Brock Banta, NIC, p. Chad Thornock, 3:09. 141 - Kent Tran, CC, p. Brett Gast, 3:43. 149 - Ramon Estrada, CC, d. McKray Jones, 11-1. 157 - Jeremy Bommarito, NIC, d. Ramon Estrada, 2-0.165 - Eric Sauvageau, CC, d. Jake Mason, 9-8. 174 - Jesse Nielsen, NIC, p. Thomas Estrada, 2:41. 184 - Justin Korthuis, NIC, p. Ryan Collins, 1:52. 197 - Jamelle Jones, NIC, md. Mario Delgado, 13-5. 285 - Jose Lopez, CC, tf. Nicholas Wasierski, 21-4.

North Idaho 31, Yakima Valley 15

125 - Kyle McCrite, NIC, p. Ken Jolly, 1:56. 133 - Brock Banta, NIC, p. Gustavo Lopez, 2:35. 141 - Kyle Walker, YV, p. Brett Gast, 1:15. 149 - McKray Jones, NIC, d. Torrey Turner, 6-1. 157 - Jeremy Bommarito, NIC, p. Chris Row, 2:16. 165 - Sean Baker, YV, p. Jake Mason, 1:39. 174 - Jesse Nielsen, NIC, d. Teagan Franco, 14-8. 184 - Justin Korthuis, NIC, d. Richard Quesada, 7-6. 197 - Jamelle Jones, NIC, md. Ryan Campbell, 16-6. 285 - Rico Paz, YV, d. Nicholas Wasierski, 8-4.

WOMEN'S BASKETBALL

CASPER, Wyo. - Sophomore Kama Griffitts scored a game-high 19 points as 14th-ranked North Idaho defeated Casper College 68-56 in the Pizza Hut Women's Invitational Basketball Tournament.

Tugce Canitez had 18 points and eight rebounds for NIC (6-0), which faces Colby College today.

NORTH IDAHO

Camille Reynolds 0-8 0-0 0, Amy Warbrick 1-3 0-0 2, KiKi Edwards-Teasley 3-8 5-6 11, Kama Griffitts 4-13 8-8 19, Tugce Canitez 9-14 0-0 18, Chantel Divilbiss 2-5 0-0 5, Korina Baker 1-6 1-2 3, Julia Salmio 1-2 2-2 4, Amanda Carlton 0-1 0-0 0, Deanna Dotts 2-5 2-5 6. Totals 23-65 18-23 68.

CASPER COLLEGE

Sherece Huddlin 2-7 2-5 6, Rosalie Cutri 6-13 0-0 12, Jasmine Belin 5-13 2-2 13, Lindsay Pearing 2-7 0-0 5, KeArrow Jenkins 1-2 0-0 2, Alyssa Schmidt 3-4 0-1 7, Marlianne Louzeiro 0-0 2-2 2, Madara Gulbe 3-5 0-0 7, Ashley Hutchinson 1-4 0-0 2. Totals 23-55 6-10 56.

Halftime - NIC 29-27. 3-point goals - NIC 4-21 (Reynolds 0-2, Warbrick 0-1, Edwards-Teasley 0-1, Griffitts 3-8, Canitez 0-2, Divilbiss 1-3, Baker 0-3, Carlton 0-1). CC 4-15 (Huddlin 0-1, Cutri 0-1, Belin 1-4, Pearing 1-4, Schmidt 1-2, Gulbe 1-2, Hutchinson 0-1). Rebounds - NIC 35 (Canitez 8). CC 34 (Huddlin 11). Assists - NIC 13 (Baker 4). CC 10 (Cutri 4). Team fouls - NIC 15, CC 16. Fouled out - Canitez.