Area roundup: Oles end Whits’ year

Whitworth’s Northwest Conference championship season came to an end Saturday as Melissa Burch and Kim Smisek led a stalwart St. Olaf (Minn.) front line with 26 combined kills in a 25-17, 25-17, 25-11 sweep of the Pirates (18-7) in the second round of the NCAA Division III volleyball tournament in St. Paul, Minn.

Amanda Grumbach led the Pirates with nine kills and three aces and Kaimi Rocha added eight kills and nine digs.

The No. 11 Oles (31-4) took it to the Pirates throughout the match, taking a lead of 5-1 in the opening set and never looking back, trailing just once more in the match, 12-11 in the second set.

• Tarah Murey had 16 kills and three blocks and Shannon Hawari added 12 kills with five blocks as No. 4 California (23-2, 13-2) handed Washington State (6-18, 0-14) its 14th consecutive Pac-10 loss 25-18, 25-21, 25-20 in Pullman.

The Cougars were held to a .258 hitting percentage in the match, led by Brittany Tillman’s 11 kills. Rachel Todorovich added 10 kills and seven digs for the Cougars.

• Alix Klineman finished with 24 kills, tallying the final four points in the fourth and final set as No. 2 Stanford (22-2, 13-2) beat No. 11 Washington (18-7, 7-7) 3-1 in Pac-10 play in Seattle.

The Huskies took a 1-0 lead and held leads in the third and fourth sets before eventually giving way to the Cardinal.

In the fourth set, the Huskies failed to capitalize on two set points, allowing four straight points to give Stanford the 26-24 edge.

• Allison Walker tallied her third straight double-double with 22 kills and 10 digs and Idaho (13-12, 8-6) earned its third five-set win in its last four matches, beating Louisiana Tech (12-19, 1-13) 3-2 in WAC play in Moscow.

The Vandals won the third set 27-25 to take a 2-1 lead, but failed to hold the momentum, losing the fourth 21-25. In the final set, the Vandals won 15-10, thanks in part to the play of Kelsey Taylor, who finished with a career-high 17 kills.

• Lexi Sullivan notched a match-high 21 kills and Lauren Campbell added 16 kills and five aces as Northern Arizona (10-15, 6-9) held off Eastern Washington (7-18, 6-9) 3-2 in their Big Sky match in Flagstaff, Ariz. The loss eliminated EWU from conference tournament contention.

Three EWU players finished with double-digit kills, led by 13 from Alysha Cook, but the Eagles could not hold a 2-1 advantage, falling 25-20, 15-11 in the fourth and fifth set.

• Kim Hill led all players with 14 kills and a .481 hitting percentage and visiting Pepperdine (19-7, 10-2) cruised to a straight-set victory over Gonzaga (3-26, 1-12) in West Coast Conference action.

In their first match since snapping their 24-match losing streak, the Bulldogs struggled to find any offensive rhythm, tallying just 18 kills and a minus-.040 hitting percentage.

Women’s soccer

Lateashea Currie gave Community Colleges of Spokane (12-5-3) an early lead with a goal in the third minute, and Briana Kerley added a goal in the 51st minute as CCS blanked Everett (13-4-1) 2-0 in the NWAACC tournament quarterfinals in Everett.

The Sasquatch advance to the semifinals and will play Clackamas at the Starfire Complex in Tukwila, Wash., at 11 a.m. Saturday. The 16-2 Cougars defeated Columbia Basin 2-1 in their quarterfinal match.

Women’s basketball

Yinka Olorunnife and Ashley Walters combined for 25 points and Idaho (1-0) shot 40 percent from the floor to win its season opener, 72-55 over Eastern Oregon (2-1) in Moscow.

The Vandals went 8 of 16 from 3-point range in the first half to open a 43-21 lead by the break.

“We were trying to take what the defense was giving us,” Idaho coach Jon Newlee said. “They were collapsing and giving us a lot of looks from 3. If they’re going to give them to us we’re going to take them.”

The Mountaineers managed to cut into the lead in the second half, shooting 43.5 percent from the field. But EOU couldn’t stop UI from expanding its lead to 30, when the Vandals went up 63-33 with 11:52 remaining.

Olorunnife added 10 rebounds to go along with her game-high 13 points. Walters also notched a double-double with 12 points and 11 rebounds, adding three blocks in her Idaho debut.