Cougars Make Quick Work Of Huskies

Joy Sperry tallied 20 kills and 12 digs and Adrian Hankoff added 19 kills and 13 digs to spark the Washington State Cougars to a 15-11. 15-12, 15-10 Pacific-10 Conference women’s volleyball sweep over the Washington Huskies on Friday in Seattle.

Melissa Wright chipped in with 59 assists for WSU (13-11, 7-9).

Wright (10 kills, 11 digs) and Holly Harris (10 kills, 10 digs) also had double-doubles for the Cougars.

Kristina Laffling finished with 15 kills and a .481 attack percentage and Lisa Underhill totaled 17 kills for the Huskies (8-16, 4-12).

The cross-state rivals stayed close in the first game with WSU going up 11-8 before UW tied it up. A Hankoff kill and a tip by Harris helped the Cougars prevail.

In the second game, WSU jumped to an 8-2 lead but the Huskies came back with eight unanswered points to take the lead. An ace by Wright and a big block by Kristen Johnson put the Cougs up 11-10. Sperry’s ninth kill of the game put the Huskies away.

WSU led 14-8 in the final game and needed four tries at match point to complete the sweep.

Washington State travels to second-ranked Stanford on Thursday and California on Friday.

Gonzaga gave visiting eighth-ranked Pepperdine a run for its money but fell short 15-10, 15-10, 15-7.

For the night, Pepperdine finished with an attack percentage of .204, well below its West Coast Conference-leading 296. The Bulldogs hit just .065. The Zags were led by Seraina Bitzi’s 10 kills and .273 hitting percentage. Emilie Heggli finished with 23 assists.

The Waves were paced by Stacy Rouwenhorst’s 10 kills and game-high eight digs. Setter Melissa Plass recorded 34 assists for the match.

Gonzaga returns to action tonight when it hosts WCC rival Loyola Marymount University at 7.

Women’s basketball

Barbara Marekova scored 14 points and grabbed seven rebounds and Monika Marekova added 12 points on 4-of-5 shooting from 3-point range to lead Lokomotiva Bratislava, a team from Slovakia, to a 76-67 women’s basketball exhibition victory over the Idaho Vandals in Moscow, Idaho.

Idaho’s Alli Nieman hit 10 of 19 shots from the floor and finished with a game-high 26 points. Julie Wynstra added 13 points and a game-high nine rebounds.

The two previous nights, Lokomotiva Bratislava had lost to Gonzaga and Washington State.

Wrestling

North Idaho won 9 of 10 matches to cruise past visiting Pacific Lutheran 35-3 in a men’s non-league wrestling match at Coeur d’Alene.

Ry Stone earned a 5-3 overtime decision in the 184-pound class and David Sandberg posted a 13-6 decision in the 197-pound class.

PLU forfeited matches in the 125-pound and 133-pound classes.

Vandals soccer players honored

Megan Cummings, a sophomore midfielder/forward for the Idaho Vandals, earned All-Big West Conference second-team honors. Cummings, a Ferris High graduate, scored 11 goals and was second in the conference with 26 points.

Vandals sophomore Jennifer Frazier received honorable mention. Frazier, a Mead grad, led Idaho with nine assists. She finished the season with 25 points.