Eagles Can’T Be Locked Down Big Sky Leaders Master Montana State

Pick a combination, any combination, and the Eastern Washington University volleyball team can pull out the winning number.

In Thursday night’s Big Sky Conference match against Montana State, Eagles coach Pam Parks shuffled 13 players in and out of the rotation and they responded with a convincing 15-4, 15-9, 15-9 win before 1,156 spectators at Reese Court.

The win keeps the Eagles atop the conference standings at 6-1, 14-3 overall. EWU has won five straight and 11 out of 12 matches. The Bobcats, who entered in second place, dropped to 13-5, 3-2.

“Look at all the players who contributed,” said Parks, glancing down at the final stat sheet. “It keeps people on their toes and it also lets the players see that they all can contribute.”

The most generous donor was Janelle Ruen, who is quickly becoming the conference’s freshman sensation of the year. When starting left-side hitter Angie Hall collided with senior Lacey Coover early in the first game, Hall hurt her left elbow and sat most of the night. Ruen, from Post Falls, stepped in and finished with 13 kills (.171 hitting) and 10 digs. The only one who topped her was Coover, who had a solid night with 17 kills (.351 hitting) and 19 digs.

In the third and longest game and the Eagles trailing, Coover tied the score at 9 with a clean crosscourt kill to the back row. She gave the Eagles the lead for good when her hit grazed off a defender. Ruen closed the match authoritatively, pounding a shot between Cori Carper and Aimee Halyk.

“She’s doing great. She’s stepping up to the challenge,” Parks said of Ruen, who also plans to play basketball for the Eagles.

Hall, meanwhile, the current conference co-player of the week, returned in the third game and finished with two kills. MSU’s Stephanie Laya, who shared the honors with Hall, stayed in all night but did not have good results. The outsider hitter took 52 swings and finished with 15 kills for a .077 hitting percentage.

It didn’t get much better for Bobcats middle hitter Carper, whose .338 hitting is third-best in the confer- ence. Carper finished at minus .091. As a team, MSU hit .070, well below its .220 average, third-best in the conference. Eastern, leading at .243, hit .233.

In the first two games, Montana State struggled on service receives.

The Bobcats’ poor passing resulted in limited hitting opportunities. In the first game, the Eagles jumped ahead early and later four straight points gave them a 14-4 lead. After a sideout, Kim Maxwell and Whitney Lewis blocked Halyk for the final point.

Coover had nine kills in the second game and Ruen added seven. Reserve middle blocker Stephanie Dahlstedt had five kills in the second game and finished with 11. Despite Eastern’s varied and able lineups, Montana State coach Dave Gantt chose to put the blame on his team.

“We just didn’t play well. I saw a personality out there that I hadn’t seen all year,” Gantt said. “ That’s not a characteristic level of play for us. We split with them last year; we’ll split with them this year.” The two play again in Bozeman on Nov. 11.