Seattle U. women's basketball reports violations to NCAA

Three Seattle University women's basketball players — senior Mercedes Alexander, junior Breanna Salley and sophomore Elle Kerfoot — will sit out competition for the fall quarter and possibly longer after the school informed the NCAA that they failed to meet the requisite credit hours for the spring quarter.

The university also self-reported two secondary violations: extra practice time last spring during the offseason and an impermissible observation of recruits by the previous coach.

All the infractions preceded the appointment of coach Joan Bonvicini and her staff.

"As an institution, we are committed to upholding both the intent and letter of NCAA rules compliance, and we will certainly use this situation as a learning opportunity," said director of athletics Bill Hogan.

The university will pursue reinstatement for Alexander, Salley and Kerfoot.

The Redhawks host their first exhibition game Tuesday against Northwest University.

Men's basketball

Western Washington shot just 38.9 percent from the field as it fell 71-58 to Kentucky Wesleyan in second-day action Saturday at the Disney Tip-Off Classic in Anaheim, Calif.

Western (1-1), which connected on just 21 of 54 attempts from the floor, was led by the 12 points of reserve center Dave Vanderjagt. Forward Michael Duty added 11 points and six rebounds for the Vikings.

Volleyball

Marcy Hjellum had career highs of 16 kills and 22 digs, and Kady Try also had with 16 kills to lead Central Washington to an 18-25, 25-23, 25-15, 25-16 victory over Northwest Nazarene in Ellensburg. The win snapped a two-match losing streak for the Wildcats (13-10, 5-7 Great Northwest Athletic Conference).

• Gonzaga starved off two match points for host Portland in the fourth set and three more in the fifth set to pull out the 18-25, 26-24, 20-25, 29-27, 20-18 victory. Michelle Boevers had a team-high 19 kills for the Bulldogs (9-13, 4-4 West Coast).

Men's soccer

Brendan Quilici doubled his season total with two goals for Western Washington in a 3-2 victory over host Montana State Billings. It was the second straight win for the Vikings (7-11-0, 4-3-0 GNAC).

Women's soccer

Amy Pate scored a goal early in each half, helping Central Washington knock off sixth-ranked Seattle Pacific 3-1 in Ellensburg. The Wildcats (7-9-1, 4-5-1) snapped an eight-game losing streak against SPU, which still leads 15-2-1 in the all-time series. The defending NCAA Division II champion Falcons (14-3-1) dropped to 7-2-1 in GNAC games, trailing league-leading Western Washington (7-1-2) by one point in the standings.

Cross country

The Gonzaga men finished fifth (123 points) and the women sixth (134) at the WCC championships in Belmont, Calif.

Chris Boyle led the men with a 10th-place finish in 25 minutes, 34 seconds over the 8-kilometer course. Elizabeth Slamkowski paced the Bulldogs women, finishing 22nd in 22:39 over the 6K layout.

• Kyle King's 18th place finish in 26:51.7 paced the Eastern Washington men to a fifth-place finish (144) at the Big Sky championships in Greeley, Colo. The ninth-place Eagles women (276) were led by Stephanie Dye, who was 44th in 21:49.9.

Swimming

The Seattle University men (132-102) and women (144-88) fell in dual meets at UC Davis. Highlights included Jordan Anderson's victory in the men's 50-yard freestyle in 20.91, and Elizabeth Hanohano taking the women's 100 free in 54.22.

Compiled from sports-information reports and other sources.