Eagles Come Home At Last

Thu., Sept. 25, 1997

By Hilary Kraus hilaryk@spokesman.com

Finally, the Eastern Washington University volleyball team gets to show its fans that they’re not only good, but really good.

After starting with 10 road matches, Eastern opens its home schedule against Big Sky Conference foes Montana, tonight at 7, and Montana State, Saturday at 2 p.m.

The Eagles, 8-2 overall and 2-0 in conference play, have caught the attention of rival coaches. In this week’s NCAA District 8 rankings, EWU fills the 10th spot behind Stanford, Pepperdine, USC, Washington State, Arizona, UCLA, Loyola Marymount, San Diego and Washington.

Not bad company for a team that finished 16-12 and 9-7 in conference matches last season.

Montana’s Grizzlies opened their conference season with a five-game win over Sacramento State. Then, Tuesday night, they lost to Gonzaga in three games and fell to 2-10.

Key players for UM include former Shadle Park standout Holly Horn, a University of Oregon transfer. The 5-foot-9 hitter entered Tuesday’s game with 59 kills in 220 attempts.

Eastern’s Eagles are led by junior middle blocker Kim Exner, who needs two kills to reach the 1,000 mark for her career. She has 183 on the year. Exner leads the Big Sky with a 4.82 kills per game.

Spikes and digs

No. 6 Washington State (14-0, 2-0) opens its Pac-10 home schedule Friday against No. 7 USC (9-0, 2-0), with No. 18 UCLA (9-1, 1-1) to follow on Saturday. USC’s Trojans are holding opponents to a .106 hitting percentage… . Their 6-0 middle blocker, Jasmina Marinkovic, was named AVCA national player of the week after hitting .767 in wins over ASU and Arizona. … WSU coach Cindy Fredrick said she won’t decide until late this week whether to start Stephanie Papke or Samantha Spink at setter. In last week’s matches, Spink replaced Papke after the veteran got off to sub-par starts. … UCLA’s Elisabeth Bachman is out for the year. The sophomore blocker injured her wrist in the World University Games then played in six UCLA games before undergoing surgery to repair a burst tendon sheath early this month… . Jennifer Stinson of WSU leads the Pac-10 in blocks with 83 and leads the team with 161 kills.

, DataTimes The following fields overflowed: SUPCAT = COLUMN - College volleyball notebook

Local journalism is essential.

Give directly to The Spokesman-Review's Northwest Passages community forums series -- which helps to offset the costs of several reporter and editor positions at the newspaper -- by using the easy options below. Gifts processed in this system are tax deductible.

Meet Our Journalists

Jesse Tinsley

Meet Jesse Tinsley. As a certified drone pilot, this veteran Spokesman-Review photographer often can be seen capturing beautiful aerial photographs of our region. Sometimes though, the job requires getting down with the dogs.
Jim Meehan

Jim Meehan is no stranger to Zag Nation. As the lead writer covering the Gonzaga men’s basketball team, he tells the stories behind the game and gets fans a bit closer to their favorite players.
Molly Quinn

There is no artist in Spokane like Molly Quinn. Her whimsical style is instantly recognizable to readers of The Spokesman-Review. She has painted gorgeous illustrations that instantly elevate the journalism accompanying it. She brings to life the stories that defy photography. She makes our pages better.
Rob Curley

Spokesman-Review editor Rob Curley loves to talk with people and learn about their lives, whether it's a best-selling author or a stranger he meets downtown on his walk to lunch. It's that inquisitive nature combined with a playful sense of storytelling that helps make our newspaper different than most.

Eagles Come Home At Last

Jesse Tinsley

Jim Meehan

Molly Quinn

Rob Curley

Updated: WSU football to host open practice, kids clinic in Spokane this weekend

Updated: Vandals get ready to turn up the tempo with quarterback Joshua Wood back under center

'Guys are really buying into what we're saying': The importance of WSU defenders Kaden Beatty and Nylan Brown