7th-Ranked Gauchos Sweep Idaho Quickly

Seventh-ranked UC Santa Barbara handed the University of Idaho volleyball team its worst loss in school history Thursday, 15-1, 15-4, 15-3, at Moscow, Idaho.

“I really didn’t come in here and expect an easy match,” said UCSB coach Kathy Gregory, whose team improved to 20-2, 8-1 in the Big West Conference. “That was one of our best matches. We were on all cylinders.”

Idaho, riding a four-match winning streak, slipped to 12-10, 6-3.

USCB overpowered the Vandals, stemming from a .456 attack percentage. Idaho didn’t record a block in the 63-minute match while UCSB finished with seven.

“We didn’t quit fighting,” Idaho first-year coach Carl Ferreira said. “I’ve seen Santa Barbara play for years, and that could be the best Santa Barbara team. That’s probably a Final Four team.”

Idaho couldn’t contain UCSB hitters Katie Crawford, Heather Brown and Roberta Gehlke.

Brown led the Gauchos with a match-high 13 kills, a .571 attack percentage and four blocks. The 6-foot-3 Crawford, this week’s AVCA national player of the week, had nine kills on a .571 attack average. Gehlke, last year’s Big West freshman of the year, recorded 11 kills along with a .391 attack average and seven digs.

The Vandals hit .062 for the match, their second-lowest total of the year.

Idaho freshman Alli Nieman had a team-high eight kills on .250 hitting.

Junior middle blocker Jessica Moore also had six kills and seven digs for the Vandals.

“Idaho has a fine tradition and it’s not easy with a new coaching change,” Gregory said.

The Vandals take on Cal Poly SLO (12-7, 4-4) Saturday in Memorial Gym at 8:30 p.m. Tickets are half price for the match, and those who attend Saturday’s Idaho-Utah State football game will get free admission with a football ticket stub.

Jennifer Kessy had 25 kills and teammate Jasmina Marinkovic added 21 as the No. 5 University of Southern California swept No. 10 Washington State University 15-13, 15-9, 15-12 at Los Angeles.

The loss dropped the Cougars to 18-4, 6-4 in the Pacific-10 Conference. USC, which lost to WSU earlier this season in Pullman, improved to 16-2, 8-2.

Junior middle blocker Jennifer Stinson led the Cougars with 13 kills and added seven blocks. Jamice Mounts had 63 assists and a match-high 16 digs for the Trojans.

WSU overcame a four-point deficit in the first game and tied the score at 10. Kessy had 10 kills in the 42-minute game. Kessy continued to dominate with seven more kills in the second game and Marinkovic added seven. WSU tied the game six times before USC had three straight blocks to take a 10-7 lead.

WSU made a five-point run in the final game but found itself down 14-7. The Trojans won the match on their fifth match point when Elis Arias committed an error.

“We played well in the first game and unfortunately we made some key mistakes at times,” WSU coach Cindy Fredrick said. “In the third game, it took us to get down 14-7 and it was a great comeback but again, just a little bit short.”

Kim Exner landed 16 kills on .448 hitting and Lynn Robison finished with 14 kills on .229 hitting to lead Eastern Washington to a 15-9, 15-8, 15-2 sweep past visiting Weber State in a Big Sky Conference match.

The Eagles (16-3, 8-1) and the Wildcats (9-12, 1-7) were knotted at 7 in the first game before Eastern scored five unanswered points. Eastern was trailing 8-6 in the second game before stringing together nine unanswered points. The Eagles built a 12-0 lead in the final game.

Lacy Coover led the Eagles with 12 digs. Robison, who entered the match averaging 4.32 digs per game (15th-best in the country), added nine digs.

Rowing

Gonzaga University rowing teams will host the 12th annual Head of the Spokane Regatta on Saturday at the Charlotte Y. Martin Boathouse located east of Upriver Dam on the Spokane River.

Teams from Washington State University, North Idaho College and other local club teams will compete in Gonzaga’s only home race of the 1997 fall racing season. Racing begins at 9 a.m.

A busy weekend of rowing continues Sunday with Class Day races. Class Day begins with intrasquad racing at 9 a.m. Rowing alumni will also race the current Gonzaga squads.

, DataTimes