Whitworth claims NWC title
Whitworth clinched the Northwest Conference volleyball title Wednesday night with a 3-0 sweep of Whitman College (11-12, 6-9) in the Whitworth Fieldhouse.
Natalie Danielson posted eight of her match-high 15 kills in the decisive second game and added four blocks to lead the 17th-ranked Pirates (19-3, 14-1). Carey Guhlke and Angie Florence combined for 15 kills for Whitworth, and Rebekah Hornor had 38 assists, six kills and six digs. The Pirates hit .339 as a team.
•After jumping to a 2-0 lead, Idaho (13-11, 5-6) dropped three straight games in a Western Athletic Conference loss to Utah State (16-9, 8-3) at the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum in Logan, Utah.
Amanda Bowman led Idaho with 20 kills, while Haley Larsen added 19 kills on a .357 hitting percentage. Erin Curtis and Sarah Loney chipped in with 10 kills apiece for the Vandals, and Curtis recorded a career-best nine blocks. Meghan Brown led the defense with 25 digs.
•Community Colleges of Spokane (23-13, 8-4) dropped three straight games to host Columbia Basin (7-24, 4-6) in NWAACC play at Pasco.
Women’s golf
Eastern Washington University finished its fall schedule with a 16th-place finish at the UNLV Founders Collegiate Showdown at Anthem Country Club in Henderson, Nev.
EWU finished with a three-round total of 959, led by Katie Kofmehl’s 56th-place finish.
Second-ranked UCLA won the tournament with an 840.
Women’s basketball
University of Washington was picked to finish sixth and Washington State ninth in the 2005-06 preseason Pacific-10 Conference poll, the conference announced.
Stanford was picked to win the conference title.