Sports Briefs

ACADEMICS

EWU football, volleyball are BSC academic champs

FARMINGTON, Utah — The Big Sky conference announced its second annual list of Team Academic Champions, and Eastern Washington football and volleyball are among the recipients. 

The Team Academic Champions honors the conference’s sponsored sports for the 2023-24 academic year that recorded the top combined team grade-point average in their respective sport. 

Volleyball held the top mark among the Big Sky volleyball programs with a 3.83 combined team GPA. Football led its conference peers after carrying a 3.33 GPA. 

This past fall, football had 28 student-athletes earn Big Sky All-Academic Awards, while volleyball totaled nine. In July, volleyball was named to the American Volleyball Coaches’ Association Academic Honor Roll. 

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BASKETBALL

Women’s hoops earns honor

ATLANTA, Ga. — In a season of historic success on the court, Eastern Washington women’s basketball maintained its elite level in the classroom.

Eastern earned a Special Mention on the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association honor roll. 

To qualify, a team must have a 3.0 combined grade-point average. Teams also must be nominated by their head coach, who must be a WBCA member. The Eagles carried a 3.42 cumulative GPA for the 2023-24 academic year. This marks the third-straight special mention for head coach Joddie Gleason’s team.

Eastern has appeared on the WBCA Top 25 honor roll 17 times, most recently in 2018.

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FOOTBALL

Ebukam lost to Achilles injury

INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. — The Indianapolis Colts announced that former Eastern Washington football player Samson Ebukam I likely lost for the season with a torn Achilles tendon.

Ebukam led the Colts with 9.5 sacks in 2023 as well as 57 tackles and 17 quarterback hits.

A fourth-round pick in the 2017 draft by the Los Angeles Rams, Ebukam, a native of Nigeria who later moved to Portland, played at EWU from 2013–2016.

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SOCCER

Eagles finish pre-season with win 

CHENEY — A goal from Kendall Moore in the first half and second half strikes from Grace Terrill and Delani Walker powered Eastern Washington to a 3-1 win over Thompson Rivers from Kamloops, British Columbia, Aug. 8 at the EWU soccer field.

Following a 2-0 loss Aug. 5 to former Pac-12 and new Big Ten opponent the Washington Huskies, Eastern finishes the pre-season with a 1-1 record.

The Eagles now move into non-conference play on the road Aug. 15 against the Troy Trojans in Troy, Ala.  Eastern will back home Sept. 5 to host UC Davis at 4 p.m.