WATERLOO, Iowa -- The Missouri Valley College tennis team began its season by winning five gold medals last weekend in the Upper Iowa Challenge.

The Vikings were led by senior Nicki Erickson of Marshall, who won the women's "C" singles division and paired with sophomore Shruti Bedi for third place in "B" doubles.

On the men's side, sophomore Derek Gillilan of Higginsville was first place in the "B" group. Gillilan and freshman Alain Antoine of Santiago, Chile, captured the "B" doubles title.

Also coming in first were the duos of freshman Alvar Ribalta of Barcelona, Spain, and sophomore Diego Malaga of Lima, Peru, in the "C" division and Antoine and Ribalta in "D." Malaga finished second in "C" singles.

Valley was the only NAIA school in the field, which otherwise consisted of NCAA Division II members, and led the field in gold. The Vikings will be at the ITA Regional Tournament, Sept. 26-27 at Topeka, Kan..

Men's Soccer

The Valley men's soccer team split a pair of 1-0 non-conference road contests during the past week.

Senior Steffen Siebert connected with a "golden goal" Friday for a 1-0 overtime victory Friday at Bethel (Kan.).

Against Rogers State (Okla.), Sunday at St. Charles, the Vikings were unable to recover from freshman Henrique Souza's first half goal. Junior Igor Lima stopped the Hillcats' other three shots on goal.

Valley (2-3) is scheduled to host Friends (Kan.) today and play Cardinal Stritch (Wis.) Sunday at St. Charles.

Women's Soccer

The Lady Vikings lost their end of the doubleheaders against Bethel (Kan.) and Rogers State (Okla.).

Junior Sarah Bottila and sophomore Jessica Yach tallied for Valley during Friday's 3-2 loss to the Lady Threshers, who got two goals from sophomore Stephanie Schroder.

Freshman Emily Givan had a pair of goals during Rogers State's 4-0 victory. Senior Kendra Kaiser made nine stops for the Lady Vikings (1-4), who also play Friends and Cardinal Stritch this weekend.

Women's Volleyball

The Valley women's volleyball team was swept by Haskell (Kan.) last Friday and Heart of America Conference rival Benedictine during Tuesday's home contest, extending its losing streak to six matches.

Sophomore Takara Bighorse had 16 kills during Haskell's 25-21, 25-22, 25-19 victory. Seniors Katharina Scheller and Jessica Caton led the Lady Vikings with a combined nine kills and seven aces.

The Lady Ravens' 25-13, 25-12, 25-23 decision was paced by sophomore Erin O'Connor, who put down 18 of 28 shots. Freshman Chelsea Chamberlin topped Valley with seven spikes.

The Lady Vikings will be playing at the Texas Wesleyan-Hughes Tournament this weekend in Fort Worth.

Cross Country

Freshman David McMichael (21:55.46) of Caddo, Okla., came in 26th Friday during the University of Central Missouri Mule Run at Warrensburg, leading Valley to ninth place out of 17 teams.

Two former Marshall all-staters were also in the field, juniors Michael Campbell (21:49.88) and Jeremy Glassmaker (21:55.82) finishing 23rd and 27th respectively for NCAA Division II Southwest Baptist.

The Lady Vikings didn't have enough runners to enter as a team, but sophomore Taylor Whitacre (16:24.80) of Lebanon was 30th in the field of 129 entries.

Valley will take part Saturday in the Missouri Southern State Stampede at Joplin.