Sports Briefs

Eastern women open basketball season at home versus E. Oregon, Air Force

The Eastern Washington University women’s basketball team kicks off its 2015-16 season this weekend at Reese Court, with home games against Eastern Oregon this Friday, Nov. 13, at 11 a.m. and Air Force on Sunday, Nov. 15, at 1 p.m.

This season marks head Coach Wendy Schuller’s 15th year on the sidelines. She is the second-longest-tenured head coach in the Big Sky Conference and needs just two victories to record 200 career wins.

On the heels of one of the best seasons in program history, the Eagles were picked to finish sixth by the media and ninth by the league’s coaches in the Big Sky Preseason Polls. Eastern returns two starters and four letter winners from last year’s squad, headlined by Hayley Hodgins, who earned First Team All-Big Sky honors a season ago. Her younger sister, Delaney Hodgins, is also back after being named the Big Sky Outstanding Freshman last season.

Last year Eastern finished fourth in the Big Sky Conference, while winning 21 games, and earning a trip to the league tournament for a sixth consecutive season.

Eastern Oregon enters with a very similar team from last year, with 11 returning players from a team that finished with a 26-7 record, and an eventual loss in the NAIA National Championship.

Air Force lost two of their top scorers from this past season, but retain sophomore Cortney Porter who leads all returners with 10.5 points per game. Air Force finished last year with a 2-28 overall record.

EWU played a single exhibition game against Saint Martin’s last Friday, Nov. 6, winning in dominant fashion, 77-52. The game saw senior Hayley Hodgins and sophomore Delaney Hodgins combine for 45 points while the entire team shot a solid 41 percent from the field. Junior Ashli Payne also had an impressive performance, dropping a double-double with 13 points and 11 rebounds. As a team, the Eagles only turned the ball over 13 times compared to 24 for the Saints, which resulted in 30 points off of turnovers for Eastern.

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EWU volleyball wraps up regular

season on road at UNC, UND

With a Big Sky Tournament berth already locked up, the Eastern Washington University volleyball team will conclude its regular season this week with Big Sky Conference road matches at Northern Colorado and North Dakota.

EWU will square off with UNC Thursday, Nov. 12, at 6 p.m. before facing UND on Saturday, Nov. 14, at 9 a.m.

The Big Sky Tournament is set to begin with quarterfinal matches next Thursday, Nov. 19.

Despite having already secured a spot in the conference tournament, Eastern (14-11, 9-5 Big Sky) does not yet know what seed it will be, or where its headed, with two matches remaining. The Eagles are one of seven teams to clinch bids to this season’s Big Sky Tournament and will be joined by Northern Arizona, Sacramento State, Idaho State, Idaho, Northern Colorado and North Dakota.

The final spot in the eight-team field will come down to either Southern Utah or Portland State. The Vikings need to win their final two matches and have the Thunderbirds lose twice in order to have a shot at making the tournament. The two squads will square off this Thursday in Cedar City, Utah.

The Big Sky’s regular season champion will continue to serve as host of the league tournament like in years past. Northern Arizona is currently in the driver’s seat, owning a two-game advantage over Sacramento State and Idaho State in the conference standings.

The Eagles need a win over either Northern Colorado or North Dakota this week, and need Idaho to lose both of its matches, in order to finish atop the North Division standings and claim the No. 2 seed in the conference tournament.

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Eastern volleyball hosts Northern

Arizona, travels to Idaho

Fresh off clinching a bid to the Big Sky Conference Tournament for the first time in four years, the Eastern Washington University volleyball team faces a pair of tough tests this week with matches against Northern Arizona and Idaho.

Eastern hosts NAU today, Nov. 5, at 6 p.m., before facing the Vandals in Moscow, Idaho, on Saturday, Nov. 7, at 7 p.m.

The Eagles’ match versus the Lumberjacks also marks the final appearance at Reese Court for seniors Ryann Ensrud, Alexis Wesley, Allie Schumacher and Ana Jakovljevic. The group will be honored prior to the start of the contest.

EWU (14-9, 9-3 Big Sky) secured a spot in this season’s conference tournament on the heels of its five-set win ov Montana State last Friday, Oct. 30.

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EWU soccer in Big Sky tournament

Fresh off the best regular season in program history, the Eastern Washington University women’s soccer team kicks off its quest for a Big Sky Championship title and an NCAA College Cup berth this week in Moscow, Idaho.

Eastern, the No. 3 seed, will square off with No. 6 Sacramento State in a quarterfinal match today, (Nov. 5), at 10 a.m. Win and the Eagles will face No. 2 Northern Colorado in a semifinal tilt on Friday, Nov. 6, with their eyes on the championship match on Sunday, Nov. 8.Idaho is serving as this year’s Big Sky Championship host after claiming the league’s regular season title.

EWU (12-3-3, 6-2-2 Big Sky) enters the league tournament as a top-three seed for just the third time in program history, and the first time since 2009. Eastern set new program records for overall victories (12) and conference wins (6) this season and saw sophomore Chloe Williams become the first Eagle in school history to earn Big Sky Offensive MVP honors.

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Eagle women finish second, men

fourth in Big Sky cross country

The Eastern Washington University cross country teams competed in the Big Sky Conference Championships, Saturday Oct. 31, at the Cedar Ridge Golf course in Cedar City, Utah. The host team, Southern Utah, took the men’s conference title while Weber State won the championship for the women. 

The EWU women’s team finished in second place on the 5,000-meter course after the Wildcats, who are ranked fifth in the Mountain Region and 28th in the nation. Their finish recorded a new best finish in program history. The EWU men’s team finished in fourth place on the 8,000 meter course behind Southern Utah.

The top finisher for the women’s team was junior Sarah Reiter who finished in eighth with a time of 18 minutes, 25.8 seconds. The top finisher for the men’s team was junior Stephen Bottoms who finished in 12th place with a time of 26:13.2.

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Lexie Nelson will play in Finland

Recent Eastern Washington University Women’s Basketball alumna Lexie Nelson has signed a contract to play professional basketball for Kotka Peli-Karhut in the Finnish SM-Sarja League.

Nelson was a three-time All-Big Sky selection while at EWU and averaged 14.6 points per game over three seasons. As a senior, she finished eighth in the Big Sky Conference with an average of 14.0 points per game and ranked fifth in three-point percentage (35.5 pct). She led the Eagles to the second round of the WNIT this past season, helping the program record its first-ever postseason win in the process.

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EWU soccer finishes at Idaho Friday

Having already clinched a bid to next week’s Big Sky Championship, the Eastern Washington University soccer team closes out its regular season this Friday, Oct. 29, with a road match at Idaho.

Kickoff is set for 3 p.m. in Moscow.

EWU (12-3-2, 6-2-1 Big Sky) earned its second consecutive bid to the league tournament this past weekend behind a 2-2 road draw at Northern Colorado and a 2-1 home win over North Dakota. It marks the first time since the 2004 and 2005 seasons that Eastern will participate in the conference championship in back-to-back years.

Sophomore Aimie Inthoulay earned Big Sky co-Offensive Player of the Week honors after scoring key goals in both matches.

Idaho (13-4-1, 9-0 BSC) clinched the Big Sky regular season title last week and will host this year’s conference tournament. The Eagles and UI met earlier this season in a nonconference clash in Cheney Sept. 7. Eastern won the match 2-1, with goals from Chloe Williams and Delaney Romero.

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Montana schools visit in volleyball

The Eastern Washington University volleyball team welcomes Montana and Montana State to Reese Court this week for two key late-season Big Sky Conference contests.

EWU will take on the Grizzlies Thursday, Oct. 28, before facing the Bobcats on Friday, Oct. 29. Both matches begin at 6 p.m.

Eastern (13-8, 8-2 Big Sky) split a pair of road league matches last weekend, falling at Idaho State on Thursday, Oct. 22, and sweeping Weber State on Saturday, Oct. 24. The win over WSU, coupled with Idaho’s loss at Idaho State this past week, gives the Eagles a two-game lead over the Vandals in the North Division standings with six conference contests left.

As things currently stand, Idaho State and Northern Arizona are tied atop the South Division standings with identical 9-1 records. If the Big Sky Tournament started today, NAU would serve as host by virtue of its win over ISU.