Sports Briefs

Medical Lake Athletic Hall inducts new class Saturday at St. Anne’s

Medical Lake High School will induct its eighth group of inductees into their Athletic Hall of Fame Dinner Saturday, Sept. 26 in ceremonies at St. Anne’s Catholic Church Hall.

Inductees are: Carl Liggins (1965), Dave Southwick (1974), Don Gallo (1986) and Jackie McCall (2002). Inductees will also be honored at halftime of Friday’s football game versus Deer Park.

Saturday’s festivities begin with a social hour starting at 5:30 p.m. with dinner and inductions at 6:30. Cost per person is $20 with ticket information available by calling Medical Lake High School at 565-3200.

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West earns national honors

Just seven starts into his Eastern Washington University football career and junior quarterback Jordan West has already made quite a name for himself on a national stage.

After setting a school record for passing efficiency rating in EWU’s 55-50 win over then 11th-ranked Montana State last week, the junior from Maple Valley, Wash., has been selected by STATS as its FCS co-National Offensive Player of the Week. The 2012 graduate of Liberty High School has also been honored with the same award by College Sports Madness and is this week’s Big Sky Conference Offensive Player of the Week.

West completed 21 of 24 passes (88 percent) for a career-high 410 yards and six touchdowns. His efficiency rating of 313.5 broke the previous school record of 310.4 set exactly 23 years ago to the day by Mark Tenneson against Sonoma State in 1992. Tenneson was 10-of-14 for 265 yards and four touchdowns in that game.

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Eastern opens volleyball season at home

For the Eastern Washington University volleyball team, a new season starts now.

EWU opens Big Sky Conference play at home this week, facing off with North Dakota on Thursday, Sept. 24, before taking on Northern Colorado on Saturday, Sept. 26. The Eagles’ match versus UND will start at 6 p.m. while Saturday’s tilt is set for a noon start time.

Eastern (5-6) concluded its nonconference schedule with a convincing sweep of Corban last Thursday, Sept. 17, at Reese Court. EWU’s five nonconference wins are the most in a season since 2009 when it notched six non-league victories.

The Eagles will go the rest of the season without head coach Wade Benson on the sideline after he announced he was stepping down from his post last Wednesday, Sept. 16, citing fatigue of extensive travel and the demands associated with leading the program. Associate head coach Michael King will serve as the team’s interim head coach for the remainder of the year.

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EWU soccer opens Big Sky play on road

After four consecutive road wins, the Eastern Washington University soccer team is looking for a fifth this Friday, Sept. 24, when they head to Utah to play in their first Big Sky Conference match of the season against Weber State. They continue the start to their league schedule on Sunday, Sept. 27, against Idaho State. Kickoff for each game is at 2 p.m. and noon, respectively.

After last week’s win against UIC (Sept. 16), Eastern has now recorded four consecutive wins for the first time in program history and are 6-1-1 heading into conference play.

“I think that just shows the players’ grit and determination,” said Bodnar of his team’s 9 consecutive road wins this season.

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EWU women open season on road

The Eastern Washington University women’s basketball team kicks off its 2014-15 season with a road game at Utah Valley this Friday, Nov. 14, in Orem, Utah.

EWU returns four starters from last year’s team that won 16 games and finished in fourth place in the Big Sky Conference, earning a trip to the league tournament for a fifth consecutive season.

This season is the start of head coach Wendy Schuller’s 14th season leading the Eastern program. Already EWU’s all-time NCAA Division I wins leader, she became the program’s longest-tenured Division I head coach last season, surpassing Eastern Bill Smithpeters, who led the Eagles for 12 years from 1982-83 to 1993-94.

The Eagles return home Tuesday, Nov. 18 to face Wichita State at 6 p.m.

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EWU volleyball chases playoff spot

as regular season closes at home

Still in the running for a spot in the Big Sky Conference Tournament, the Eastern Washington University women’s volleyball team will close out its regular season with a pair of league matches this week at Reese Court.

Eastern opens the week against Northern Colorado, Thursday, Nov. 13, followed by North Dakota, Saturday, Nov. 15. Both matches begin at 6 p.m.

Despite suffering defeats at Northern Arizona and Idaho this past week, EWU (9-18, 5-9 BSC) remains in the hunt for one of the eight bids to the upcoming conference tournament. The Eagles are tied for eighth place in the league standings with Southern Utah.

Montana and Portland State are the other two teams best positioned to make the tournament as they currently sit tied for sixth.

Idaho State has clinched the right to host the tournament while North Dakota, Idaho, Northern Arizona and Northern Colorado have secured berths.

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Eagles fall 3-2 in soccer playoff

Facing a two-goal deficit late in its first appearance at the Big Sky Conference Tournament in five seasons, the sixth-seeded Eastern Washington University women’s soccer team saw its comeback effort fall just short as No. 3 Northern Arizona hung on to win, 3-2, Thursday, Nov. 6, at Montana’s South Campus Stadium.

Northern Arizona followed with 2-1 wins over Portland State, Nov. 7 and punched their ticket to the NCAA College Cup with a 2-1 win in the Big Sky Conference Championship over Idaho State, Sunday.

The Eagles’ Cassie Black tied the contest 1-1 in the 20th sminute. NAU would score the next two goals before Savannah Hoekstra connected for Eastern in the 83rd minute to close it to 3-2.

The Eagles seemed poised to complete their comeback, getting a handful of looks at NAU’s goal along with a dangerous free kick at the top of the Lumberjacks’ box.

“When we met at the end of the match, I thanked the seniors for helping us build a platform,” head coach Chad Bodnar said. “They won eight games this year, and we were in every single game this season.”

Eastern sees its season come to an end, finishing with an overall record of 8-9, good for the second-most wins in single-season history and the highest number of victories since 2009.