Bulldogs fight back, defeat Santa Clara

Gonzaga (7-11, 3-2) learned its lesson from Thursday’s crushing loss to San Francisco and flipped things around against West Coast Conference adversary Santa Clara (11-9, 1-4), coming back from down 2-0 to win Friday 17-25, 14-25, 25-19, 25-21, 15-12 in Santa Clara, Calif.

Three senior Bulldogs combined for 33 of the team’s 53 kills, led by Michelle Boevers’ 15.

•Community Colleges of Spokane (22-10) entered the last day of the Crossover Tournament 2-0, but lost to Shoreline in five games before being eliminated by Bellevue 25-23, 25-13, 20-25, 32-30 at Spokane Falls CC. Highline won the tournament in four games over Edmonds.

CCS middle blocker Nicole Graybeal earned co-MVP honors at the tournament alongside Shoreline’s Lahela Kaili-Laroya and teammate Beth Altena was also named to the all-tournament team.

•Ashley Hamilton recorded a triple-double with 43 assists, 11 kills and 14 digs as Eastern Washington (12-7, 6-2) upended Northern Colorado (12-9, 6-2) 23-25, 25-22, 26-24, 25-18 in Big Sky action in Greeley, Colo.

Chenoa Coviare and Sara Todorovich tallied 15 kills apiece for the Eagles, who finished the day tied atop the Big Sky standings with UNC and Portland State.

•Idaho (8-11, 4-3 WAC) put an emphatic end to its four-match road losing streak with a 25-23, 25-22, 25-22 sweep of Nevada (7-13, 3-4) in Reno, Nev.

The Vandals rallied from down 16-11 to win the first game and did not give up a set to Nevada. Sarah Conwell hammered 17 kills and Anna McKinney finished with seven blocks for the Vandals.

It was the 650th victory for the Idaho program.

•Whitworth (8-13, 4-6 NWC) used a 17-6 run in the third game against Linfield (7-10, 4-6) to swing the match and finished with a 23-25, 25-23, 25-14, 26-24 win in McMinnville, Ore. Ariana Obert had 20 digs for the Pirates and Bree Riddle doled out 24 assists.

•Visiting No. 12 UCLA (14-6, 4-3) was too much for Washington State (15-4, 4-4 Pac-10), sweeping the host Cougars 25-12, 26-24, 25-12. Megan Ganzer led a struggling WSU attack against UCLA with eight kills and Oceana Bush tallied 15 digs.

The Cougars looked ready to tie the match at 1-1, up 18-14 in Game 2, but UCLA rallied to score five straight points and take a 19-18 lead. Again threatening later in the game, up 24-22, the Cougars allowed another four-point run by UCLA, the last coming when Jackie Albright lost her footing and tumbled under the net.

The Bruins hit .407 in the final game and were led by Kaitlin Sather’s 16 kills and 33 assists from Lauren Cook.

•Pushed to the brink by USC (13-6, 2-5), down 2-1, No. 4 Washington (17-1, 7-1) rallied to win the final two games for the Pac-10 victory in Seattle. Kindra Carlson finished with 18 kills and 15 digs for the Huskies and the Trojans were led by 25 kills and 13 digs from Alex Jupiter.

•North Idaho College survived two tight matches against the College of Southern Idaho and Western Wyoming CC in Twin Falls.

The Cardinals (22-4) trailed 2-1 against CSI before winning the fourth game 25-15 and the fifth 15-13 behind 20 kills from Marketa Hanzlova and 48 assists from Maddeline Dolny.

Dolny added 40 assists in a win against WWCC and Tina Strahinic led with 20 kills.