NIC advances to regional final, CSI rematch
Konae Purcell and Cintia Alessi each had double-doubles to lead No. 4 North Idaho College to a 30-21, 30-15, 30-24 sweep of Eastern Utah in the first round of the National Junior College Athletic Association Region 18A volleyball tournament at Twin Falls, Idaho.
Purcell had 13 kills and 13 digs while hitting .684, and Alessi chipped in with 11 kills and 11 digs for the Cardinals (31-4), who hit .419 for the match to CEU’s .115 percentage. Collese Dornan almost had a third double-double for NIC with nine kills, hitting .667, with 18 assists.
The Cardinals will face No. 1 Southern Idaho, which tied with NIC for the Scenic West Athletic Conference title, in tonight’s regional championship. NIC upset CSI in five games in their Oct. 29 battle at Christianson Gym. The Golden Eagles (45-2) swept Snow College in their regional opener.
•Missie Stidham had 16 kills and Christina Kirk added nine kills and eight blocks to lead Saint Mary’s to a 30-25, 30-17, 30-16 sweep of Gonzaga in a West Coast Conference match at Moraga, Calif.
Kaui Salzman also had nine kills for the Gaels (16-7, 7-4), who had 17 team blocks and held the Bulldogs (10-18, 2-9) to a .022 hitting percentage. Briawna Mueller had seven kills, hitting .538, and five blocks for Gonzaga.
•Kaitlin Sather had 16 kills and Katie Carter added 14 as No. 21 UCLA swept Washington State 30-17, 30-24, 30-26 in a Pacific-10 Conference match at Los Angeles.
Jen Barcus (Lakeside-Nine Mile Falls) led the Cougars with 10 kills and six blocks, while Te’Ara Epps had six kills and eight blocks.
•Sanja Tomasevic had 15 kills, nine digs and seven blocks as No. 2 Washington swept No. 15 USC 30-21, 30-23, 30-19 in a Pac-10 match at Los Angeles.
Alesha Deesing added 13 kills and six blocks for the Huskies (23-0, 14-0), who earned their 19th sweep of the season. Staci Venski led the Trojans (13-8, 9-4) with 10 kills.
Men’s basketball
Freshman Tommy Craddock led four starters with at least 13 points as North Idaho defeated Northwest (Wyo.) 80-68 at the Swede Erickson Classic in Casper, Wyo.
Craddock scored 16 points and grabbed six rebounds for the Cardinals (1-0), who also received 15 points from Frank Clair, 14 from Darin Nagle (Potlatch) and 13 from Keelan Donald. Bayo Arigbon just missed a double-double, contributing nine points and 10 rebounds off the bench.
Women’s basketball
Keisha Moore had a double-double off the bench as Washington State rallied to a 65-57 exhibition victory over Lewis-Clark State at Bohler Gym in Pullman.
Moore led the Cougars with 15 points and 10 rebounds, while Charmaine Jones had 11 points, seven assists and five steals. Adriane Ferguson (Mead) was also in double figures with 14 points.
Cami Kalbfleisch (Lewiston) had 16 points and five steals to lead the Warriors, who led 32-28 at halftime. Ashley Baker had a double-double with 12 points and 17 rebounds.