Idaho men, women open their basketball seasons

The 2005-06 season officially began for the University of Idaho men’s basketball team Friday evening as the team held its first official practice in Moscow.

“Practice went the way that I anticipated it would and it went the way that it has during the preseason,” Vandals head coach Leonard Perry said in a school release. “These kids have worked extremely hard and they aren’t afraid to push themselves or each other.”

Perry, who enters his fifth season as the Vandals head coach, welcomed back seven athletes from last year’s squad along with seven newcomers.

“I think the new guys are doing great,” Perry said. “They’re all really good kids and they’ve blended in well with our returners, and our returning guys have been great leaders for them.

“It’s a refresher for our returning guys as well when you’re explaining new things so I don’t think we’re behind with the new kids. The newcomers have grasped what we are doing very well.”

Idaho’s women also took the court for the first time, as coach Mike Divilbiss welcomed back four starters from last year’s third-place team in the Big West Conference.

Women’s soccer

Cortney Sobrero scored in the 59th minute as host Idaho (2-12, 0-3) lost its 10th straight game, falling 1-0 to Fresno State (4-8-1, 1-1) in Western Athletic Conference play.

•Courtney Soma’s goal in the 29th minute gave Gonzaga (10-3-1, 1-1 West Coast Conference) a 1-0 win over No. 10 Pepperdine (10-2-1, 1-1) in Malibu, Calif., the third straight year the Bulldogs have upset a ranked Waves team.

•Haley Stein scored twice as Arizona State (7-5-2, 2-1) netted two goals in the final 10 minutes to secure a 4-2 victory over Washington State (7-6-1, 0-3) in Pac-10 play in Pullman.

•Mallory Miller scored her conference-leading 15th goal in the 54th minute as No. 20 Arizona (8-3-2, 3-0) shut out Washington (0-11-3, 0-3) in Pac-10 action in Seattle.

Volleyball

Nana Meriwether led four Bruins in double-figure kills with 14 and finished with a .550 hitting percentage as No. 22 UCLA swept Washington State 30-20, 30-21, 30-19 in Pac-10 action in Pullman.

UCLA (10-6, 3-4) hit .357 as a team and held the Cougars (8-12, 1-6), led by Brittany Johnson’s 10 kills, were held to a .084 attack percentage.

•KeLicia Shorts (Mead High) finished with 23 kills and a .450 attack percentage as visiting San Francisco (15-6, 2-3) fended off a fourth-game match point before rallying to upend Gonzaga (9-11, 1-3) 14-30, 30-28, 30-18, 37-35, 15-8 in the West Coast Conference.

•Brie Hagerty had 11 kills, and Sanja Tomasevic and Alesha Deesing had 10 as No. 2 Washington (16-0, 7-0) swept No. 17 USC (8-7, 4-3) 30-23, 30-16, 30-19 in Pac-10 action in Seattle.

•Julie Marsh had 16 kills and Brittney Bower 11 as No. 20 Whitworth (14-2, 9-0) won its 10th straight match by sweeping George Fox (9-7, 4-5) 30-20, 30-14, 30-16 in Northwest Conference action at Whitworth.

Men’s soccer

George Josten scored his sixth goal of the season off an assist from Josh Westerman as visiting Gonzaga (2-5-3, 0-2-1) worked a 1-all draw with No. 21 San Francisco (6-3-2, 2-1-1) in WCC action.