College Roundup: Vanguard wins in NAIA first round

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL

Vanguard 82,

Southern Poly 76

FRANKFORT, Ky. — Seniors Esther Timmermans and Alison Drennan had double-doubles and junior Nicole Ballestero led the Lions with 26 points in the first round of the NAIA women’s basketball championship on Wednesday at the Frankfort Convention Center.

Ballestero made 10 of 20 field-goal attempts, including three of five from three-point range to help the Lions (24-3) shoot 51.6% from the field.

Vanguard, which broke a two-year first-round losing streak in the NAIA tournament, made four of eight from three-point range.

Timmermans had 16 points on eight-of-16 shooting and also had 14 rebounds.

Drennan, who made six of 10 field-goal tries, had 14 points and 16 rebounds to help Vanguard post a 53-38 rebounding advantage.

Vanguard will face William Woods of Missouri in Friday’s second round at 1:30 p.m. William Woods (26-6) defeated MidAmerica Nazarene of Kansas, 79-75, on Wednesday.

Georgia-based Southern Poly (25-6) made 11 of 21 three-point attempts (52.4%), but was just 16 for 56 from inside the arc and finished shooting 35.1% from the field.

Vanguard, which received 13 points and eight rebounds from senior Maree Drennan, committed 17 turnovers, to just nine for Southern Poly.

WOMEN’S TENNIS

UC Irvine 4, Louisville 3

IRVINE — Ali Facey won in singles and doubles to lead the host Anteaters in the nonconference match Wednesday.

Facey won at No. 4 singles and teamed with Brooke Schweyer for a win at No. 3 doubles.

Kristina Smith and Kat Facey won at Nos. 1 and 6 singles, respectively, for No. 23-ranked UCI (12-3), which has now won 10 in a row.

Lousiville is 10-4.

Doubleheader

COSTA MESA — Host Vanguard earned a pair of nonconference wins on Wednesday, topping Connecticut College, 6-2, then defeating Principia College, 9-0, at the Costa Mesa Tennis Center.

Juliet Labarthe won four singles sets and two doubles sets to pace the No. 10-ranked Lions (7-9).

MEN’S TENNIS

Vanguard 9,

Connecticut College 0

COSTA MESA — Stephan Kilchhofer and Damon Johnson won all 12 singles games to lead host Vanguard in the nonconference match Wednesday at Costa Mesa Tennis Center.

The No. 3-ranked Lions are now 13-0.

Connecticut is 1-1.

Utah 5, UC Irvine 2

IRVINE — UCI earned the doubles point and Jacob Jung claimed the host Anteaters’ lone singles win in the nonconference match Wednesday.

Jung teamed with Tyler Pham for one UCI doubles triumph. The other UCI doubles win came from Justin Abgayani and Caryl Hernandez.

UCI is 2-12.

Utah is 8-5.

SOFTBALL

Riverside 18,

Orange Coast 0

COSTA MESA — Katie Kendrick and Nicole Watkins accounted for both of the host Pirates hits in the Orange Empire Conference game on Wednesday.

The game ended after five innings, leaving OCC 2-17, 0-8 in conference.

Riverside is 18-1, 8-1.

Doubleheader

COSTA MESA — Host Vanguard split two games with William Woods on Wednesday.

The Lions (16-13) lost the first game, 4-1, then won, 5-4.

No statistics were available.