Northwest Notes Aug. 6, 2011

Gonzaga adds games to men's schedule

Three more games have been added to the Gonzaga men's basketball schedule, including the Ronald McDonald House Charities Classic on Nov. 26 against Western Michigan at the Spokane Veterans Memorial Arena.

Also added to the slate were games at Illinois on Dec. 3 and at Xavier on Dec. 31.

Gonzaga announced it will play Washington State, Notre Dame, Michigan State and Butler at McCarthey Athletic Center this season, with the Bulldogs facing Arizona in the Battle in Seattle.

The remainder of the schedule will be announced when finalized.

Vandals picked fourth in preseason polls

DENVER - The Western Athletic Conference head volleyball coaches expect to pick up in 2011 right where they left off in 2010, as their preseason poll is nearly identical to the 2010 final standings.

Hawaii (49 points) received seven of eight first-place votes, and was picked to win its 16th straight conference championship, while Idaho was fourth with 33 points.

New Mexico State was tabbed for another second-place finish with 41 points and Utah State, which upset Hawaii to win the WAC tournament championship, was picked third with 34 points and one first-place vote.

Fresno State (25) and Nevada (20) were picked to finish fifth and sixth after both tied in the regular season standings with identical 7-9 WAC records. San Jose State (14) and Louisiana Tech (8) round out the poll.

Idaho sophomore Allison Walker was the only Vandal selected to the preseason All-WAC team. She was a first-team all WAC pick in 2010, and earned player of the week and all-tournament team honors as a freshman, when she ranked fourth in the conference with 3.95 kills per game.

Hawaii's Kanani Danielson, the two-time reigning WAC Player of the Year, was the unanimous preseason player of the year.

Idaho opens the season Aug. 26 against Butler at the Shamrock Invitational hosted by Notre Dame.