Vandals Extended Before Pulling Out Big West Win

University of Idaho won its third straight match, beating Cal State Fullerton 15-6, 7-15, 15-13, 7-15, 15-11 Friday in Big West Conference women’s volleyball play at Fullerton, Calif.

Trailing 10-8 in the final game, the Vandals (11-9, 5-2) put away the victory with kills by Jeri Hymas and Alli Nieman. Fullerton is 10-9, 3-4.

Hymas slammed a season-high 21 kills along with a career-high .462 attack percentage. Jessica Moore led Idaho with 23 kills and a team-high 13 digs.

Gonzaga (8-11, 2-2) pushed 14th-ranked Pepperdine (15-2, 4-1) to four games before succumbing 15-2, 15-7, 12-15, 15-10 in West Coast Conference action in Martin Centre.

Anna Witkowski pounded down 21 kills and hit .559 for Pepperdine, which rebounded from a four-set loss to fourth-ranked USC on Wednesday.

Theresa Spink had 13 kills and attacked at a .375 clip for Gonzaga.

Nicole Bruner and Katie Jo Borgmann recorded 11 kills apiece with only three hitting errors between them as Whitworth (5-12, 3-6) downed Pacific (5-12, 1-8) 15-9, 15-11, 15-11 in a Northwest Conference match at Whitworth.

The Pirates hit .286 as a team, led by Bruner’s .500 mark. Bruner also contributed six block assists. Mary Hubele hit .375 and collected 23 assists and 14 digs.

Women’s soccer

Arizona State scored two second-half goals off long balls to stop Washington State’s five-game winning streak with a 3-1 Pac-10 victory at Pullman.

The Cougars (7-5-0, 2-1-0 Pac-10) fell from the unbeaten ranks in Pac-10 play.

Karine Inoue ran down a long ball and passed ahead to Jaclyn Clark, who scored the tie-breaker for the Sun Devils (8-4-0, 2-0-0) in the 58th minute.

Clark settled another long pass and found Inoue in the box for the last goal.

Men’s soccer

Jeff McAllister scored two goals and collected two assists to lead Gonzaga (10-3-0, 1-0-0) to a 7-2 victory over Saint Mary’s (5-5-2, 0-2-0) in the Bulldogs’ West Coast Conference opener at Moraga, Calif.

Gonzaga, leading 2-1, broke the game open by scoring three goals in less than 4 minutes early in the second half.

Women’s basketball

Coaches and media representatives have picked Montana to continue its reign over the Big Sky Conference, according to the 1997-98 preseason poll.

Last season, the Griz posted a 16-0 league mark while winning their thirdstraight league title.

Among conference coaches, Montana received seven of nine first-place votes. Idaho State, a surprise runner-up last year, was picked to finish second again. Rounding out the top four were Montana State and Northern Arizona. Eastern Washington was picked last.

Media voters unanimously selected Montana to win its fourth straight title with Montana State second. EWU again was picked to bring up the rear.

Tennis

Idaho senior Danny Willman and sophomore Darin Currall beat the 19th-ranked doubles team, Alabama’s Chris Lopez and Graidon Oliver, 7-6 (7-4), 6-3 in the ITA All-American Championships at Austin, Texas.

After advancing to the round of 16, the Idaho pair then bowed to a University of Arkansas entry because of an injury.

, DataTimes MEMO: Changed in the Spokane edition