Hilary Kraus

1. Ruff 2. Seattle's Angela Aycock, left, gets the full attention of San Jose Laser Jenni Ruff during Sunday's game in Seattle. Photo by Bill Chan/Special to The Spokesman-Review 3. Jenni Ruff took to the gym for a photo session to promote health and fitness for women. Photo courtesy of Macy's

Mention Spokane to Seattle Reign general manager Jim Weyermann and he has facts and figures. "Kimmel Athletic Supply Co. is the highest in per cap in merchandise sales for Seattle Reign gear," he said. Weyermann, one of eight GMs in the newly formed women's American Basketball League, is paid to pay attention to such details. It's part of the plan while trying to sell a grassroots league.

Spot the home team 17 points in the first 5-1/2 minutes and, what, did the Washington State women's basketball team really expect a victory in the hostile purple environment of Hec Edmundson Pavilion on Saturday night? Oh, the Cougs made it a game, at times, but they never really challenged the University of Washington, which beat Washington State 78-56. The loss keeps WSU without a win in the Pacific-10 and drops its record to 6-8, 0-5. UW improves to 8-6 and 3-2 in conference. This one was decided in the opening minutes when the Huskies scored on their first five possessions - three times on 3-pointers - to post a 13-2 lead in just 2 minutes, 38 seconds.

The area's Division I basketball teams are struggling. Whitworth, of the NAIA Division II, is up and down. But one team - little ol' Community Colleges of Spokane - is quietly putting together an exceptional season. "We're doing better than I thought we might," confessed ninth-year CCS coach Bruce Johnson, whose team has a 15-4, 3-0 record in the Northwest Athletic Association of Community Colleges.

It was like being locked in a room and watching Comedy Central on TV for 40 minutes. Yes, this one was a side-splitting laugher for the Whitworth College men's basketball team, which rolled to a 94-58 win over Willamette Saturday night at the Whitworth Fieldhouse.

It didn't take long for Washington State volleyball star Sarah Silvernail to find a new home on the court. Silvernail, who finished her collegiate career in December, has agreed to play for the Utah Predators of the Pro Volleyball League. The Utah team is based in Salt Lake City and is one of five PVL teams.

College women Jennifer Tissue sat at the end of the bench Friday night, nursing her chronically aching back, but the Whitworth College women's team didn't need its talented point guard as the Pirates easily defeated Linfield College 58-39 in the Whitworth Fieldhouse. The lopsided game allowed Whitworth coach Helen Higgs to use all of her available players. However, it was starting shooting guard Rebecca Moore who stepped in for Tissue at point guard and allowed Whitworth to break away early. The senior scored on a layup with 9:36 left in the first half and followed with a 3-pointer 30 seconds later to give the Pirates a 16-4 lead.

Whitworth's Sean Weston, looking for a way out of traffic, finds a passing lane around Linfield's Brian Nietz (34). Photo by Dan Pelle/The Spokesman-Review

Harold Rhodes says he's been voting the University of Oregon women's basketball team in the top 15 all season. The Ducks have not cracked the Associated Press Top 25, but Rhodes and his Washington State Cougars are preparing as though Oregon is among the best. And for good reason.

Warren Friedrichs, the Whitworth College men's basketball coach who has a penchant to grab the game's stat sheet moments after it spits out of the courtside printer, didn't need to look up this set of numbers. "We're 9-1," said Friedrichs, referring to the Pirates' record shortly after Tuesday night's 74-60 non-conference home win over Western Montana. "And we'll take it."

Rhodes

Jeff Mix has adapted well to his new role as a starter. Photo by Dan Pelle/The Spokesman-Review

Idaho's Kathryn Gussett, left, battles Eastern's Andee Schmick for a loose ball. Photo by Dan Pelle/The Spokesman-Review

1. Washington State senior middle blocker Sarah Silvernail, middle, was a big hit with American Volleyball Coaches Association voters. Photo by Shawn Jacobson/The Spokesman-Review 2. Papke

Nine games into the Idaho women's basketball season and Alli Nieman's name already is plastered all over the leaderboard. Nieman, a 1996 Sandpoint High School graduate, has been the Vandals' leading scorer in five games and the top rebounder in 7 of 9 games. The 6-foot-1 forward, named 1996 North Idaho female athlete of the year last spring, is leading the Vandals with 17.7 points per game and 9.3 rebounds per game. "I'm not surprised at all," third-year coach Julie Holt said. "Alli's really special. She runs well, jumps well and moves well for her size. She has a great feel for the game of basketball."

Sophomore Jennifer Canevari reflects on what might have been after Stanford sidelined Washington State from the NCAA volleyball on Saturday. Photo by Shawn Jacobson/The Spokesman-Review

Sarah Silvernail fell to the floor, hiding her face in her folded legs. Within seconds, the only senior starter on the Washington State volleyball team joined her teammates on the other side of the net to form the obligatory high-five reception line. One by one, the dejected Cougars congratulated Stanford for making it into the Final Four. They did it by beating Washington State 15-12, 15-13, 15-9 in the NCAA Volleyball Tournament Pacific Regional before 2,615 spectators at Maples Pavilion.

1. Sarah Silvernail (15), Keren Oigman and Jennifer Stinson, right, celebrate win. Photo by Shawn Jacobson/The Spokesman-Review 2. Jennifer Stinson spikes the ball past Loyola's Tate Medley in the second game of the Cougars' four-game match win. Photo by Shawn Jacobson/The Spokesman-Review

"It's like incest," said Washington State coach Cindy Fredrick about tonight's Pacific Regional finals between the Cougars and Stanford. "The two teams know each other so well." But the Cardinal, 1992 and 1994 NCAA Tournament champions, have won 21 of 22 meetings, including all 11 at Maples Pavilion. Stanford has won 61 of 63 matches at home and has a 46-match win streak at home.

Long before Pac-10 player of the year Sarah Silvernail dressed in crimson and gray, light years before West Coast Conference player of the year Kim Blankenship suited up for Loyola Marymount, the Cougars and the Lions tangled in a jungle called Bohler Gym. That was 1991, at the annual Cougar Classic, and the host team won in three games in the schools' only meeting.

Loyola Marymount will be an unfamiliar opponent for Washington State when the two meet tonight in the NCAA Volleyball Tournament Pacific Regional semifinals. But for one Division I area coach, the Lions are a known commodity. Sean Madden, Gonzaga's coach for nearly 10 seasons before resigning on Oct. 23 for personal reasons, prepared his team yearly for their West Coast Conference meeting. When the Bulldogs played the Lions this year in Los Angeles - with Madden still coaching - GU won the first game before losing the match 9-15, 15-10, 15-11, 15-2. A huge key in tonight's match, said Madden, will be WSU's ability to wear

The Whitworth College men's basketball team will put its 22-game home winning streak to the test this weekend when it plays host to the Whitworth College Invitational. It begins Friday at 6 p.m. when Concordia (Ore.) of the Cascade League plays Carroll (Mont.) of the Frontier Conference. Whitworth (5-1) will take on Northwest College (9-5), an NAIA independent, at 8. The two met in the Snake River Shootout in Lewiston, with Whitworth winning 88-71. The Pirate women (3-2) play host to a four-team field Saturday and Sunday.

Though the Cougars depend on Papke as a setter, she has enough height to be effective at the net. Photo by Shawn Jacobson/The Spokesman-Review

Youth is showing some signs of experience on the Eastern Washington women's basketball team. Three weeks into the season, the Big Sky Conference's eagle eyes belong to Eastern sophomores Shana Ray and Tanya Kirk. Ray, a 5-foot-9 guard from Lynnwood, Wash., leads the conference in field-goal percentage, converting 56.3 percent (27 of 48) of her attempts. Ray and Kirk, a Central Valley High graduate who played junior college ball at North Idaho College, are tied for second in the conference in scoring average (17.3).