No. 20 Santa Clara sweeps Zags in WCC

Gonzaga University dropped its fourth straight West Coast Conference match, falling to 20th-ranked and conference-leading Santa Clara 25-23, 25-19, 25-19 at the Martin Centre.

The Bulldogs (6-13, 0-4) were held to 36 kills with junior Michelle Boevers leading with a match-high 16. Santa Clara (12-3, 4-0) finished with 50 kills.

•No. 8 UCLA swept visiting Washington State 3-0 in a Pacific-10 Conference match at Los Angeles.

Jackie Albright led WSU (7-10, 0-6) with nine kills while Cassie Robbins had eight. Alli Daley of UCLA (12-4, 2-3) had a match-best 13 kills and 12 digs.

•Washington snapped Southern California’s program-best 32-match home winning streak as the Huskies prevailed in five in Pac-10 action at Los Angeles.

Becky Perry led UW with 24 kills. It was USC’s first home loss since the 2006 season-opening match.

•Nikki Bardwell had 16 kills and 19 digs to lead Whitworth to a 25-19, 25-23, 19-25, 25-15 win over Linfield in a Northwest Conference match at Ted Wilson Gym in McMinnville, Ore.

Whitworth (11-9, 4-4) has won three of its last four conference matches.

•Idaho won its fifth straight match with a 3-1 decision over San Jose State in Western Athletic Conference action at Moscow.

The Vandals (12-6, 5-2) were strong throughout with the exception of one rotation that allowed San Jose State to take 10 straight points a victory in the third game.

Haley Larsen led Idaho with 14 kills and 17 digs. Kelsey Yonker added 21 digs and Sarah Loney reached double figures with 11. Kelsey James had 41 assists.

“It is probably the best we have played fundamentally in some time,” Idaho coach Debbie Buchanan said.

•College of Southern Idaho downed Community Colleges of Spokane 27-25, 25-18, 25-17, 25-11 at Spokane Falls CC.

Men’s soccer

Danny Williams scored two goals and had an assist as Pacific upset No. 18-ranked Whitworth 3-1 in Northwest Conference men’s action at Lincoln Park Stadium in Forest Grove, Ore.

Williams scored just a minute into the match and with a minute left. The Pirates (8-2-1, 4-2-0) had plenty of scoring opportunities but couldn’t convert. Elly Bulega scored Whitworth’s goal. The win snapped the Boxers’ (6-3-3, 2-1-3) five-match scoreless streak.

Women’s soccer

Lindsey Oakes and Kimberly Mitchell scored first-half goals to lead Whitworth past Pacific 3-0 in Northwest Conference women’s action at Lincoln Park Stadium in Forest Grove, Ore.

The Pirates (7-3-1, 3-3-1), ranked No. 16 in the last NSCAA/Adidas Division III poll, posted their second victory in the last five matches. They outshot the Boxers (4-7-0, 3-4-0) 19-14.

•Chrissii Almquist made her one shot on goal count, scoring with 40 seconds remaining to help Community Colleges of Spokane to a 1-1 tie with visiting Clark College in an NWAACC match at SFCC.

•North Idaho College, behind two goals from Natalie Nichols, defeated Great Falls 3-0 at Great Falls.

Cross country

The Whitworth men and women raced to runner-up finishes at the Pacific Lutheran Invitational at the PLU golf course in Tacoma. Western Oregon won both races.

Nick Gallagher led the Whitworth men by placing third, running the 8,000-meter course in 25 minutes, 59.51 seconds. Dana Misterek led the Whitworth women, taking sixth in a time of 23:06.90.

Junior hockey

The Chase Chiefs (6-5-0) topped the Spokane Braves 6-4 in a KIJHL match at the Eagles Ice-A-Rena. Nick Redding scored twice in the third period to pull the Braves (7-5-0) within the final margin. Alex Lelwica and Tyler French scored the Braves’ other goals.