Eastern Transfer’S A Killer

She’s new to the state of Washington, newly married, and Robyn Sonju-Felder is one of the new volleyball stats leaders in the Big Sky Conference.

The 5-foot-11 middle blocker transfer for the Eastern Washington Eagles enters this weekend’s matches against Weber State (7-9, 4-4) and winless Portland State (0-17, 0-8) with a conferencebest .363 hitting percentage, converting 149-of-325 kills with just 13 errors. Her 1.08 blocks per game lead Eastern and her 2.81 kills per game rank second behind senior outside hitter Angie Hall.

She’s also doing it from a new position. After Sonju-Felder played left-side hitter for two years in junior college, EWU coach Wade Benson switched her to middle blocker.

“We needed a physical force in the middle,” Benson said. “I tried it in the spring, and she’s done an outstanding job of learning a hard position.”

Benson recruited Sonju-Felder out of Ricks College in Rexburg, Idaho. She was part of a package deal. Her husband of 10 months, Chris Felder, is a redshirt player on the football team. He, too, has switched positions, from tight end to defensive end.

His wife already made the transition smoothly and willingly.

“I like it a lot,” said Sonju-Felder, who played middle blocker at Dobson High School in Mesa, Ariz. “The middle is really an athletic position, and you’re involved in every play and always moving.”

When the Eagles (7-8, 4-4) knocked Montana (12-7, 4-2) out of first place Saturday, Sonju-Felder had 15 kills to go with Hall’s team-high 18 kills.

This weekend, EWU begins a six-match stretch at home.

“Right now in league, everybody is beating up on everybody,” said Sonju-Felder. “And we don’t lose at home.”

EWU’s last home loss was Sept. 24, 1998.

Cougs hit the skids

After a promising 8-0 start, Washington State has lost six out of its last eight matches to fall to 10-6 with a 1-6 record in the Pac-10 Conference.

Its fortunes could change this weekend, especially Saturday when WSU hosts Oregon, 7-8 overall and 0-7 in conference matches.

The match will be a homecoming for Oregon freshman Lindsay Murphy and the return of former Idaho coach Carl Ferreira. Murphy, out of Mead High, is starting for Ferreira, averaging less than one kill per game. She originally made a oral commitment to University of Idaho, but changed her mind and walked on at Oregon after Ferreira accepted the job in Eugene.

The Ducks have not won in Pullman since 1989. Friday’s opponent, Oregon State, has not won in Pullman since 1995. But the Beavers are having a good season at 12-5, 4-3, including a season-making win over then-No. 5 UCLA. On the flip side, they were beaten by Idaho before conference play began.

Vandals host two of the best

After losing two on the road, Idaho (11-4, 2-2 Big West) returns home only to face No. 18 Long Beach State (12-4, 3-3) Thursday and No. 13 Pacific (13-3, 5-1) Friday. Both teams were NCAA tournament semifinalists last year and neither has ever lost to Idaho.

“Long Beach and Pacific are two very tough opponents and we are going to have to compete in every aspect of the game. We are looking forward to the competition as it’s making our team get better,” said Idaho first-year coach Debbie Buchanan, putting the sort of spin on the situation that’s usually saved for political advisors.

Spikes and digs

It might be tough for Gonzaga (4-13, 0-4 West Coast Conference) to snap its eight-match losing streak this weekend when it hosts No. 23 Loyola Marymount (12-5, 2-1) on Friday and No. 5 Pepperdine (13-2, 3-0) on Saturday… . Washington State, home for the first time in three weeks, is ranked 22nd nationally in attendance with an average of 939 fans in six matches.