Ruen Making Huge Strides
The athletic skills were always at a high level for Janelle Ruen, Eastern Washington University’s two-sport athlete. But there was no hiding she was a step ahead in basketball coming out of Post Falls High School in 1999.
In 1 years, Ruen has made the leap in volleyball - and it’s practically out of the gym.
After racking up 32 kills, 15 digs, five blocks and two services aces in two matches last week, Ruen is this week’s Big Sky Conference player of the week. She hit a combined .469 as the Eagles swept Idaho State and Cal State Sacramento.
“She’s a good athlete who’s now getting the game figured out,” said coach Wade Benson. “I did not think she’d be this good this quick. I thought it would take her to about the end of her junior year.”
Ruen credits her elevated play to staying put on the left side. Last year, she said she was “all over the place,” from the right and left sides to middle blocker.
“It’s nice to be at one spot,” she said. “The beginning of the season was kind of shaky getting used to the outside.”
Benson, who also has coached Ruen in club ball, thinks it’s more than just staying put in one position.
“She’s got good vision. She’s got a lively arm. And she’s moving the ball around a lot more,” he said.
When the volleyball season is over, Ruen said she’ll jump into basketball. Or maybe just walk slowly into her winter sport.
As a freshman, she hardly took a breather between sports, ultimately missing six conference games because of an injured left ankle. She finished with 5.5 points and 3.7 rebounds-per-game. Ruen said she has a chronically bad back that didn’t help matters.
“We went into it too fast, and I pulled muscles,” Ruen said. “This year, I’m not coming in so fast. And I’ll do more conditioning on my own.”
Roll the videotape
How many times have Cindy Fredrick’s teams seen the video tape of the 1996 Cougars beating Stanford?
About as many times as a 6-year-old has seen “The Lion King.”
“I have it running continually,” said Fredrick, whose seventh-place Cougars (13-8, 4-8) play host to No. 17 Stanford on Friday night. “They know it very well. They know all about it.”
Back then, the Cougars had to pay attention to Kristin Folkl and Kerri Walsh, among others. Now, the No.1 Cardinal player is 6-foot-1 sophomore outside hitter Logan Tom, a member of the fourth-place U.S. Olympic team.
Since Tom’s return, fifth-place Stanford (13-9, 6-7) has gone 4-3, losing to No. 8 UCLA, No. 4 USC and No. 5 Arizona. During last weekend’s trip to the Arizona schools, all Tom did was finish with 43 total kills, hitting .333 in seven games.
“They had to get used to getting her in the lineup,” Fredrick said. “I’m sure there were egos involved, and you don’t know how that affects the team’s chemistry.”
The Cougars open this week’s play Thursday against Cal, a team that has lost four straight matches. Cal’s last win in Pullman was in 1989. Stanford’s only loss in Pullman was in 1996.
Eagles jockeying for position
By sweeping Idaho State and Cal State Sacramento, Eastern (13-8, 8-4) has won seven straight matches and finds itself in a three-way, second-place tie in the tight Big Sky Conference race.
Sac State remains first at 9-3 with EWU, Montana State and Northern Arizona at 8-4. Cal State Northridge is 7-5. The winner will play host to the Big Sky Conference tournament Nov. 16-18.
This weekend’s play will tell a lot as the Eagles travel to Northridge, where they have not lost in three years, and NAU, where they lost in five games last year. Next weekend, the Eagles will try to extend their 26-match home winning streak when they play host to Montana State and Montana.
Zags doubleheader
Gonzaga’s match against Saint Mary’s on Saturday will begin at 5 p.m., followed by the men’s basketball exhibition at 8 p.m. against the Yakima Sun Kings of the Continental Basketball Association.
The volleyball team (4-19, 0-9) needs to beat San Diego (9-12, 3-6) or Saint Mary’s (9-11, 5-4) to avoid going winless at home in conference play, something it has never done.
Notes
Idaho (13-8, 4-6) plays five of its final six conference matches against teams that are ahead of it in the Big West standings. The Vandals host Cal Poly (12-8, 6-5) Friday and UC Santa Barbara (17-6, 9-2) Saturday… . Eastern leads the Big Sky in hitting at .268. Junior Robyn SonjuFelder and senior Jennifer Gabel are 1-2 in conference stats, hitting .369 and .324, respectively… . Third-place Whitworth (15-8, 10-4) still has an outside chance of qualifying for the NCAA Division III West Regionals if it can beat fourth-place Whitman tonight and seventh-place George Fox on Thursday at home.