Schedule hasn’t been kind to young Cougs

Washington State University won its first Pacific-10 Conference match last Friday, but the 3-2 home victory over Oregon State didn’t change the momentum for long.

The Cougars (13-7 overall, 1-5 in the Pac-10) went out the following night and hit a minus-.014 in a 3-0 loss to Oregon, which hit a mere .129.

With five Pac-10 teams – UCLA, Southern California, Washington, Stanford and California – ranked among the top seven in this week’s AVCA poll, WSU had a chance to make a significant move in the league standings. But the Cougars did nothing more than inch into eighth place ahead of Arizona and OSU, both 0-5 in conference play.

“We have many young, major contributors to our team and, hopefully, tonight was a lesson we can learn from,” WSU coach Brian Heffernan said following Saturday’s loss to Oregon. “Yesterday we didn’t play great (against OSU) but we got away with it, and tonight we played a much-improved Oregon team than what we had seen in the past couple of years.

“We have to come out ready to play every single night and tonight I just didn’t think we came focused, and I could see it in warm-ups. We have to find a way to be mentally stronger than we were tonight.”

Unfortunately for the Cougars, the brief respite in their schedule is over. Next up is a 7 p.m. match Friday against fifth-ranked UW (14-3, 4-2) in Seattle.

Big week for Cardinals

North Idaho College, ranked No. 2 in the latest NJCAA Top-25 poll, will have its hands full this week when defending national champion College of Southern Idaho invades Christianson Gym for a pair of Scenic West Athletic Conference matches.

The Cardinals (26-4 overall, 4-0 in the SWAC) and Golden Eagles (24-10, 6-0) meet at 7 p.m. Friday and at 3 p.m. Saturday.

Eight-time national champion CSI comes in sporting a deceiving record that includes four early season forfeit losses as the results of sanctions handed down by the NJCAA. Following last year’s championship run, the school was cited for seven NJCAA rules violations that also led to the ouster of former coach Ben Stroud and a year’s probation, which makes CSI ineligible for postseason play.

First-year coach Heidi Cartisser’s Golden Eagles beat NIC 2-1 last month and have an eight-game winning streak. The Cards, whose other losses have come to No. 1 Western Nebraska, No. 3 Missouri State-West Plains and Lake Land College, have won four in row.

No rest for the weary

After playing five matches in last weekend’s two-day Whatcom Crossover Tournament in Bellingham, Community Colleges of Spokane faces three more – two of them on the road – in just three days this week.

“We’re crazy, aren’t we?” Sasquatch coach Jenni Rosselli said about the grueling schedule ahead that includes road matches at Walla Walla and College of Southern Idaho on Wednesday and Thursday, followed by a home match against Yakima Valley on Friday.

The Sasquatch will drive by van from Spokane to Walla Walla to Idaho Falls and then back home, hopefully catching some shuteye while traveling. Still, Rosselli expects her team (13-11 overall, 3-3 NWAACC) to be up to the challenge.

“They’re studs,” she said. “We just got done playing those five matches in two days and they’re fine.”

Quick sets

Eastern Washington’s Addie Webster, a sophomore outside hitter who averaged 6.14 kills and 5.14 digs in wins over Montana State and Montana, has been named the Big Sky Conference Player of the Week. … EWU’s road sweep of the Montana schools extended the Eagles’ winning streak to three matches and lifted them into sixth place in the Big Sky Conference, which sends only its top six teams to the league tournament. … Friday’s 7 p.m. Pac-10 matchup between WSU and Washington will be televised live on FOX Sports Net Northwest. … Gonzaga hit a meager .114 in a 3-0 loss at Portland on Saturday and fell to 5-13 overall and 0-3 in the West Coast Conference.