Sports Briefs

FOOTBALL

Sendelbach receives pair of honors

Sophomore Jack Sendelbach earned a pair of Big Sky Conference Player of the Week honors after helping lead EWU’s sterling defensive effort in a 21-14 victory over North Dakota on Nov. 11. He was the official Big Sky Defensive Player of the Week announced Nov. 13, and earned the same honor from College Sports Madness after his double-figure tackle performance against UND.

Filling in for the suspended Kury Calhoun, the 2015 graduate of Blanchet High School in Seattle finished with 11 tackles and recovered a key fumble in the win. He was credited with a half-sack, and his fumble recovery came with 13:21 left in the game at the EWU 1-yard line and the Eagles clinging to a 21-7 lead. Five of his tackles came in the second quarter when EWU outscored UND 14-0 and had a dominating 191-29 advantage in total offense.

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Dascalo earns national award for

big boots at North Dakota

After a big day booming kicks, senior punter Jordan Dascalo received National Special Teams Player of the Week honors by STATS on Nov. 13. He was also honored as the Big Sky Conference Special teams Player of the Week after helping Eastern preserve a 21-14 victory over North Dakota on Nov. 11.

He punted seven times for a 52.7 average with two downed inside the North Dakota 20-yard line. The average field position for North Dakota after his punts was the 24-yard line. In all, six of his seven punts were at least 50 yards — in order he had boots of 50, 51, 56, 58, 51, 36 and 67 yards. His last punt helped pin North Dakota at the 3-yard line, and then the defense did the rest to keep alive Eastern’s hopes for its 13th NCAA Football Championship Subdivision Playoff berth in school history.

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WOMEN’S BASKETBALL

Eagle women fall to Fresno State

The Eastern Washington University women’s basketball team opened up the 2017-18 campaign Nov. 10 at Fresno State, falling 81-56.

Delaney Hodgins led all scorers with 28 points on the night to move to fourth-place on Eastern Washington’s all-time career scoring list with 1,456 points. She passes Brianne Ryan (2009-12) who totaled 1,451 points. Hodgins is now just 11 points out of third place and just 410 away from breaking the all-time record of 1,865 set by her older sister Hayley Hodgins (2013-16). She also added 10 rebounds and a career-high seven steals for a near-triple-double.

The Eagles were able to force 20 Bulldog turnovers and out-rebounded Fresno State 41-31. However, Eastern was only 2 for 18 from 3-point range while the Bulldogs were 10-19. Eastern was held to just 33.3 percent from the field while Fresno State shot 52.5.

Eastern opens its non-conference home schedule Friday, Nov. 17 when they host BYU of the West Coast Conference at 6:05 p.m.

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VOLLEYBALL

EWU volleyball signs five recruits

Eastern Washington University head volleyball coach Michael King has announced five new additions to the 2018-19 roster Nov. 8. Parker Buddy, Kennedy Kaminsky and Alexis Keith have signed National Letters of Intent, while Kaitlin Sugai and Katie Coulter will join the team as walk-ons. All five will be set to join the Eagles as true freshmen next season.

“I am absolutely thrilled about the caliber of our 2018 class,” King said. “They each bring talents and abilities that will add significant value to our program.”

Eastern’s two 3-0 losses last week to Montana State and Montana knocked the team out of the Big Sky Conference tournament. The Eagles finished the season at 7-18 overall and 4-12 in the Big Sky.

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