Vandals To Get Big Test Against 7th-Ranked Gauchos

One of the nation’s top teams travels to Moscow, Idaho, Thursday night when the University of Idaho plays host to UC Santa Barbara at 7:30.

“You’ll see a very physical team. Their middle blockers are extremely physical,” Idaho coach Carl Ferreira said about the No. 7-ranked Gauchos (19-2, 7-1 Big West Conference).

The Gauchos’ starting middles are junior Katie Crawford and sophomore Heather Brown, both 6-foot-3. Sophomore setter Tanja Hart of Karbach, Germany, leads the Big West in assists per game with 13.7.

Crawford was named AVCA player of the week this week after hitting .470 with 43 kills, 13 digs, 13 blocks and nine aces in the Gauchos’ wins over then-No. 22 UCLA, Nevada and Utah State. The win over the Bruins stopped an 11-match losing streak against UCLA that began in 1988.

The Gauchos only losses have been to Pepperdine, No. 19 at the time, and No. 2 Long Beach State. They were beating Long Beach 2 games to 1 before losing in the rally-play fifth game 15-10.

Idaho, meanwhile, has won its last four matches and improved to 12-9, 6-2.

Freshman Alli Nieman has done well since moving from middle to right side.

“Being in the middle requires a lot of extra skills,” Ferreira said. “Alli is very, very gifted offensively. We’re trying to bring her along with the other parts of her game.”

The Vandals also play host to Cal Poly San Luis Obispo (12-7, 4-4) Saturday. The Mustangs are much improved from last year and just two wins away from last year’s total wins of 14.

Cougs begin second swing

After finishing the first half of the Pacific-10 Conference season at 6-3, No. 10 Washington State (18-3) begins its second-half swing with a trip to No. 5 Southern California (15-2, 7-2) Thursday and No. 23 UCLA (9-7, 4-5) Friday.

The Cougars defeated both L.A. teams in Pullman last month.

Washington State coach Cindy Fredrick said Elis Arias, a veteran 5-9 outside hitter, has earned her way back into the starting lineup. After a solid match against Stanford last Friday, the senior from Mexico City came back Saturday to lead the team with 11 kills (.357 hitting) against California. The addition of Arias would move Shannon Wyckoff into a reserve role.

The Cougars have had little success at USC, winning just once - in 1986.

The Trojans are led by Jasmina Marinkovic. The 6-0 junior middle blocker leads the nation in hitting, connecting on 254 kills with just 41 errors for a .469 average.

The Cougs’ recent results have been better at UCLA, but not much. The Bruins lead the series 19-4, losing last year to the Cougs at Pauley Pavilion for the first time.

Eastern diagnosis not good

Eastern Washington starters Kim Maxwell and Jessica Clish will miss the rest of the season because of injuries.

Maxwell, a sophomore setter, underwent knee surgery in Calgary, Alberta, on Monday. A tear was found that will force her to miss the rest of the season.

Clish, a right-side hitter, hurt her knee on Oct. 14. EWU coach Pamela Parks said there’s a 99 percent chance Clish (1.44 kills per game) won’t return this season.

The Eagles (15-3, 7-1 Big Sky Conference) are 2-1 since losing both players. After a week off, they play host to Weber State (6-11, 1-6) Thursday at 5:30 p.m. , DataTimes MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: FINAL FOUR DOWN TO 2,000 Approximately 2,000 ticket packages remain for the NCAA Women’s Volleyball Championship, Dec. 18 and 20 at the Arena. The special reserved $35 seats are sold out, but general reserved ($25) and student reserved ($15) tickets remain. Tickets maybe be purchased by calling 325-SEAT or 1-800-325-SEAT.

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