Volleyball to start spring matches
The Idaho volleyball team starts its set of spring matches on Saturday with matches at Washington State, facing WSU at 9 a.m., future Big Sky foe Eastern Washington at 11 a.m. and Division-II opponent Central Washington at 1 p.m. inside WSU’s Bohler Gym. The Vandals have 12 players on tap for the spring including Terra Varney, Meredith Coba, Alyssa Schultz, Jenna Ellis and Katelyn Peterson, Ali Forde, Jessica Hastriter, Samantha Delmer, Michele Brown,Tineke Bierma, Stephanie Hagins and Torrin Crawford. The main volleyball season is during the fall.
“Some kids had some pretty big goals coming in,” Idaho coach Debbie Buchanan said. “I think when we get into next season, based on the growth that we’re making and the kids who are coming in, there’s going to be some major competition in the fall. It’s going to be good for us from a competitive standpoint, but it’s going to be different for them because they haven’t had that type of depth, so that’s going to be a challenge in itself.”
Idaho tennis sweeps WAC honors
Idaho tennis players Artemiy Nikitin and Victoria Lozano were named WAC men’s and women’s Tennis Athletes of the Week, respectively. Nikitin, a senior from Omsk, Russia, went 2-0 at No. 1 singles on the week, beating Seattle’s Kevin Lynch in three sets (6-1, 3-6, 6-3) and Hawaii’s Nils Schulhmann in straight sets (6-3, 7-5) as the Vandals went 1-1. Nikitin has now won three consecutive singles matches at the No. 1 spot. Lozano, a senior from Guadalajara, Mexico, went 2-0 in No. 1 singles and 1-1 in No. 1 doubles on the week, helping Idaho to a pair of 7-0 victories to improve to 13-3 on the season. Lozano swept Rye Hewett of LCSC 6-0, 6-0 before winning 6-4, 6-4 over Northern Arizona’s Johanna Vang. Lozano is 12-4 in singles play this season, and 13-2 in doubles with partner Almudena Sanz.