NW Briefs | Western volleyball sweeps to victory

BELLINGHAM — Middle blocker Angie Alvord had match highs of 13 kills and four blocks as No. 18 Western Washington defeated Alaska Fairbanks, 25-19, 25-17, 25-23, in a Great Northwest Athletic Conference volleyball match Thursday at Sam Carver Gymnasium.

The victory means Western (20-3, 12-3 GNAC) could all but clinch a spot in the NCAA Division II tournament with a season-ending victory against Alaska Anchorage on Saturday.

Other volleyball

Central Washington (15-12, 7-8 GNAC) fell 25-17, 25-22, 17-25, 18-25, 15-12 to Alaska Anchorage in Ellensburg.

• Elaina Renius had 17 kills to lead Gonzaga (10-19, 3-9 West Coast Conference) in a 25-23, 15-25, 25-18, 25-19, 17-15 victory over Loyola Marymound in Spokane.

• Puget Sound (17-8) was eliminated in the first round of the NCAA Division III tournament, falling 25-23, 25-19, 25-16 to Cal Lutheran in La Verne, Calif.

• Pacific Lutheran (20-7) was eliminated in the first round of the NCAA Division III tournament, falling 26-28, 24-26, 25-19, 25-14 and 15-12 to Nebraska Wesleyan in La Verne, Calif.

Soccer

The Whitworth men (14-3-3) were eliminated in the first round of the NCAA Division III tournament, falling to Augsburg College on penalty kicks in Spokane. The Pirates and Auggies tied 1-1 before Augsburg took the shootout 4-2.

Men's basketball

Ira Graham scored 16 points for Western Washington, which fell 78-74 to Trinity Western in an exhibition contest in Trinity, B.C.

Notes

• Three athletes have signed letters of intent with Washington gymnastics: Lauren Rogers (Plains, Pa.), Kylie Sharp (Herriman, Utah) and Kailey Hansen (Ventura, Calif.).

• Three players have signed letters of intent with Eastern Washington women's basketball: guard Na'Derra Carey (Tucson, Ariz.), forward Courtney Nolen (Penryn, Calif.) and guard Jordan Schoening (Post Falls, Idaho).

• Three players have signed letters of intent with Gonzaga women's basketball: guard Kaitlyn Petersen (Mission Viejo, Calif.), guard Meghan Winters (Denver) and forward Brittany Gray (Bainbridge).

• The Seattle Thunderbirds have signed forward Colin Jacobs to a Western Hockey League contract. Jacobs was a fourth-round selection by Seattle in the 2008 bantam draft.

• National men's and women's eight-oared crews from Brazil will be the featured international entries in the 2009 Windermere Cup next May. They will compete against Washington varsity eights. The third entry in the featured men's race will be Oregon State, and the third entry in the women's main event will be the University of Miami.

Compiled from sports-information reports and other sources.