COLLEGE ROUNDUP: Warrior basketball teams learn fates for Nationals

COLLEGE ROUNDUP

After a pair of seasons that ended with conference tournament championship losses to national top-two teams, the Lewis-Clark State Warriors men’s and women’s basketball teams are bound for their respective NAIA national tournaments, it was announced Thursday.

The Warrior women earned the No. 6 seed and will travel to Sioux City, Iowa, to play the 11th-seeded Columbia College (Mo.) at 6 p.m. March 14.

If they win, the Warriors will either face 14th-seeded Spring Arbor (Mich.) or host third-seeded Briar Cliff (Iowa) the following day.

The LC State men are bound for Georgetown, Ky. and earned the No. 7 seed. The Warriors will face the 10th-seeded Saint Francis (Ind.) at 5 p.m. Pacific on March 14. If they win, they would face either No. 15 LSU Shreveport (La.) or second-seeded Georgetown (Ky.).

Eleonora Villa makes All-Academic Team

Washington State’s Eleonora Villa was named to West Coast Conference All-Academic Team, while four other Cougs received honorable mentions.

Villa, a standout guard for WSU, studies strategic communication and holds a 3.80 GPA.

The honorable mentions included Alex Covill (human development, 3.87 GPA), Astera Tuhina (computer science, 3.21), Jenna Villa (kinesiology, 3.51) and Tara Wallack (strategic communication, 3.63).

MEN’S TENNIS

LC State drops two duals

ARLINGTON, Texas — Lewis-Clark State opened the Texas Wesleyan Invitational with team duals against No. 14 Our Lady of the Lake (Texas) and Texas A&M-Texarkana, losing the encounters by team scores of 4-0 and 7-0.

Against OLLU, the Warrior doubles pairing of Pablo Herrara and Giacomo Moreira won the top doubles set 7-5, but LCSC (4-7) dropped the other two doubles sets and three singles matches before the dual was halted in light of its having been clinched.

Agaisnt TAMT, the LC State duo of Juan Pablo Naranjo and Cesar Coloma picked up a set win at No. 3 doubles with a score of 6-4, but the Warriors lost the other two doubles sets and all six singles matches.

LCSC will continue the tournament today with a matchup against No. 11 Williams Woods at 2 p.m. Pacific.

Our Lady of the Lake 4, Lewis-Clark State 0

Singles — David Ekpenyong, TW, dnf. Pablo Herrera 6-3, 3-2; Kyllian Savary, TW, def. Giacomo Moreira 6-2, 6-2; Aymeric Bruno, TW, def. Nell Rollin 6-0, 6-1; Matis Nuziere, TW, dnf. Austin Swing 7-6, 2-1; Luis Hernandez, TW, def. Gautam Balakrishnan 6-1, 6-3; Joao Santos, TW, dnf. Alvaro Camino 6-1, 3-5.

Doubles — Herrera/Moreira, TW, def. Nuziere/Savary 7-5; Ekpenyong/Santos, TW, def. Balakrishnan/Rollin 6-0; Bruno/Hernandez, TW, def. Swing/Camino 6-3.

———

Texas A&M-Texarkana 7, Lewis-Clark State 0

Singles — Andrew Otzenberger, TW, def. Herrera 5-7, 6-3, 1-0, 11-9; Mauricio Trevino, TW, def. Moreira 7-5, 6-1; Sebastian Romanos, TW, def. Rollin 6-4, 6-4; Iker Alonso, TW, def. Swing 6-4, 6-3; Marc Gonzalez Molina, TW, def. Balakrishnan 4-6, 6-1, 6-3; Craig Crookston, TW, def. Camino 6-1, 7-5.

Doubles — Otzenberger/Trevino, TW, def. Herrera/Moreira 6-3; Alonso/Ramanos, TW, def. Swing/Camino 6-3; Juan Pablo Naranjo/Cesar Coloma, TW, def. Crookston/Gonzalez Molina 6-4.

WOMEN’S TENNIS

LSU Alexandria 7, Lewis-Clark State 0

ARLINGTON, Texas — LC State was swept by No. 12 LSU Alexandria to start its run in the Texas Wesleyan Invitational.

LCSC was swept in doubles play. Beatriz Lambru and Heidi Moyo played to a 6-3 final in the top match while April Buckingham and Paige Noble-Lucas lost 6-3 in No. 2 doubles.

The Warriors (5-6) continue the tournament today with a matchup against LSU Shreveport at 10 a.m. Pacific.

Singles — Nahia Echaide, TW, def. Beatriz Lambru 6-3, 6-2; Kanu Rajawat, TW, def. Rayana Shah 6-0, 6-4; Belen Blasco, TW, def. Heidi Moyo 6-1, 6-3; Gianna Panaggio, TW, def. Paige Noble-Lucas 7-6, 6-3; Isabella Stuurman, TW, def. Gwyn Heim 6-0, 6-0; Joline Roesch, TW, def. Carisa Liebenberg 6-1, 6-4.

Doubles — Echaide/Roesch, TW, def. Lambru/Moyo 6-3; Panggio/Rajawat, TW, def. April Buckingham/Noble Lucas 6-3; Stuurman/Blasco, TW, def. Luciana Marzani/Shah 6-2.

BASEBALL

LCSC stays in top 25

Despite a rough start for Lewis-Clark State with a record of 6-7, the Warriors remain in the NAIA’s top 25.

LCSC is ranked at No. 24 after facing some of the top teams on the road. The Warriors were able to beat the then-No. 1 Tennessee Wesleyan and won their Cascade Conference series against College of Idaho and the then-No. 24 British Columbia, to sit at 4-2 in CCC play. They are currently tied at the top of the CCC standings after the first two weeks of conference play.

They will play their home opener this weekend against Eastern Oregon. Three games of this series will count towards CCC records, while the fourth game will be a nonconference matchup.

WOMEN’S SWIMMING

Three Cougs on to NCAA Championships

Washington State had three selections to the NCAA Championships — juniors Dori Hathazi and Emily Lundgren and freshman Darcy Revitt.

Hathazi and Lundgren join Erin Eldridge as the only Cougars to earn three career berths to the national meet. This is only the second time in program history that WSU has had three selections, with the first coming in 2009.

Revitt is the first Cougar freshman to be selected to the NCAA meet since Hathazi and Lundgren in 2023.

The NCAA Championships will be held March 19-22 at King County Aquatics Center in Federal Way, Wash.