Alyssa Charlston — women’s basketball
The Idaho women’s basketball team was able to defeat Grand Canyon this weekend and move to 12-1 in WAC play. The whole team played well from start to finish, with one player standing out over the rest. Senior Alyssa Charlston tied for a game high 17 points, while also getting three rebounds in 34 minutes of action. She now has 562 career field goals made, which is good for fifth all-time at Idaho. This all came on the heels of being voted a Capital One Academic All-American. Charlston and freshman Ali Forde’s play was highlighted by coach Jon Newlee in his postgame press conference.
“I think we ran the floor great to start the second half,” Newlee said. “We made a couple of quick shots. Our post guys were running the floor and that opened up the outside.”
The Vandals return home to finish out the regular season starting with a matchup against WAC rival Seattle U Saturday at Memorial Gym.
Stephen Madison — men’s basketball
The Vandal men’s basketball team held Senior Day on Saturday celebrating seniors Glen Dean, Stephen Madison and Joe Kammerer. All of them played a substantial amount, but one of them stood out over the rest. Madison ended his Vandal career at home with 34 points — matching his jersey number, which was a fitting way to go out. The senior forward missed only three shots on the night, going 12-of-15 from the field.
“Steve (Madison) played great,” Idaho coach Don Verlin said. “I thought not only did he play great scoring 34 points, but he made the big plays when we needed them. I thought there were a number of times he came up with a big basket, the big rebound, the big defensive stop. I couldn’t be happier for Steve to finish his career out here at Idaho at home like this.”
Idaho plays its last three games of the regular season on the road before the WAC Tournament. The Vandals start the road trip with a Saturday matchup at Seattle U.
Artemiy Nikitin — men’s tennis
The Idaho men’s tennis team is finally getting back to its winning ways with a 6-1 win over Missouri-Kansas City in WAC play on Saturday. One Vandal standout was senior Artemiy Nikitin, who missed some matches earlier in the season due to personal reasons. He teamed up with Matt Oddonetto to win the second doubles match 8-2 and then won in two straight sets 6-2, 6-2 at the No. 1 singles position. After losing five straight matches, the men’s team won its last two matches — including the win over UMKC.
“If they can continue to come together as a team and focus on improving each day, they have a chance to be a good team,” Idaho coach Art Hoomiratana said.
The team continues play with a nonconference match against Utah State Friday in Logan, Utah.
Victoria Lozano — women’s tennis
The Idaho women’s tennis team has now won seven straight matches, after winning a WAC match over Missouri-Kansas City on Saturday. No. 1 singles player Victoria Lozano played a big role in helping the Vandals win the match. In singles play, she won with a three set sudden death victory over UMKC’s Dimitra Stavrianakou. She also added a doubles point victory with her teammate Almudena Sanz in an 8-1 blowout.
The Vandals return to action with a pair of matches Friday and Saturday against instate rivals Boise State and Idaho State respectively.
Andrew Bloom — track and field
The Vandal track and field team wrapped up the indoor regular season Saturday with the WSU Open II. Although the team held many athletes out of the meet to rest up for the WAC Championships, Idaho was still able to come away with three individual victories over the weekend. One that impressed Idaho coach Wayne Phipps was a win in the 400-meter dash by senior Andrew Bloom. Bloom, who hails from Walla Walla, Wash., was able to win the event with a time of 48.62 seconds.
“Andrew continues to have a great senior year,” Phipps said. “He is ready to have a huge breakthrough in the 400.”
Idaho’s other wins came from sophomore Halie Raudenbush in the 3,000-meter run and freshman Arphaxad Carroll in the long jump. The next meet for the Vandals is the WAC Championship held Wednesday through Friday in the Kibbie Dome.