WSU Silenced By Southern Cal

College volleyball/soccer

Washington State’s swing through Los Angeles began with a disappointing 15-9, 15-12, 15-6 loss to No. 16 USC Friday at North Gym.

And the road won’t get any easier for the Cougars - ranked 10th, but likely to drop in the polls - when they continue their road trip at No. 13 UCLA tonight.

The Bruins (12-5, 4-2), who were swept by Washington Friday night, hold a 19-1 edge over the Cougars.

Washington State, which entered the weekend tied for fourth with USC in the Pacific-10 Conference standings, fell to 12-4, 3-3. USC improved to 10-4, 4-2.

USC totaled 93 kills and hit .484 against WSU’s .349.

Senior Sarah Silvernail led the Cougars with 24 kills, and Shannon Wyckoff added 15.

USC was led by Jennifer Kessy with 26 kills. Jasmina Marinkovic added 25 kills for the Trojans and Vesna Dragicevic’s chipped in with 24.

Senior Kirsti Olson, a Lewis and Clark graduate, played in all three games for the Trojans and finished with six kills and seven digs.

“We started out the match with some really good hitting but we didn’t block very well,” WSU coach Cindy Fredrick said. “Defensively, we got beat up because they played smarter than we did. They moved the ball around - they tipped, they hit, they tipped and they hit and all we did was hit. So, in the long run that hurt us.”

In the first game, USC ran up a 6-1 lead and the Cougars could only get to within one at 8-7 before the Trojans, hitting .519, earned the win.

The Cougars took an 11-5 lead in game two and then watched it fade as USC’s big hitters took control of the net.

The third game was all Southern Cal as the Trojans turned an 8-0 lead into a 15-6 win in short order.

Elsewhere in volleyball

Renee Williams had 11 kills and Brenda Clinesmith contributed 13 digs to give Whitworth its first NCIC win of the year, 15-7, 15-12, 15-11 over Lewis & Clark College (5-20, 0-7). The Pirates improved to 3-14, 1-6. … Eastern’s Big Sky skid reached five straight with a 15-10, 15-10, 15-11 loss to Weber State. It was only the Wildcats’ second win and improved their record to 2-19, 2-6. Eastern, which has not won since beating Sacramento State on Sept. 26, fell to 7-9, 2-5. Kim Exner led the Eagles with 13 kills in 49 attempts (.102 percent.)

The Eagles aren’t the only local team having a rough time in league matches. At Gonzaga, the Bulldogs fell to 0-3 in Western Coast Conference matches, 7-12 overall, with a 4-15, 16-14, 15-4, 15-11 loss to Santa Clara. Christine Kubista led all hitters with 17 kills and posted nine digs and five blocks for Gonzaga. … Community Colleges of Spokane improved to 5-0 in the NWAACC Northern Division with a 15-7, 15-11 win over Clark (2-4) of the Southern Division. Jenni Rosselli led the Sasquatch with 13 kills.

Soccer scene

The Gonzaga women lost to Saint Mary’s 3-0 to fall to 1-9-2 overall and 0-2 in WCC matches. The Bulldogs have been shut out five times this season, one game ending in a 0-0 tie, and have only scored nine goals overall.

On his 21st birthday, Community Colleges of Spokane’s Kevin Moshern scored two goals and added one assist to give the Sasquatch a 5-1 win over Green River Community Colldge (4-4-1). The Sasquatch (7-2-1) travel to Edmonds today to play the top team in the NWAACC North Division. … In CCS women’s play, four different players scored for the Sasquatch in their 4-0 win over Green River CC. CCS improved to 10-1-2, 8-1-2 in NWAACC and is tied with Tacoma for first place. The two meet for the second time this year at the Falls on Wednesday.

, DataTimes