Area roundup: Chiefs drop puck on four-day fall camp

The first step toward formulating the Spokane Chiefs’ 2015-16 roster begins this morning at the Arena.

The Western Hockey League team’s four-day fall camp will start at 11:30 with the first of nine practice games over three days leading up to the annual Red-White Game.

Sixty players will be in camp, broken down into 34 forwards, 20 defensemen and six goaltenders.

The Chiefs’ hockey staff uses the camp to evaluate talent, especially young prospects. More than two-thirds of the camp invitees were born after 1997.

All ice sessions are free and open to the public. The Red-White Game is set for 1 p.m. Sunday.

Spokane’s regular season will begin Sept. 26 at the Arena.

Whitworth volleyball picked No. 1

After sharing last year’s Northwest Conference women’s volleyball regular-season championship, Whitworth and Pacific Lutheran University are expected to finish 1-2 in another tight race in 2015, according to a preseason poll of the league’s nine coaches as announced by the conference office Wednesday.

Whitworth earned five first-place votes and 65 total points in the coaches’ voting to edge PLU, which received the other four first-place votes and 63 total points.