Eastern volleyball coach resigns

Wade Benson, whose Eastern Washington volleyball team has reached the championship game of the Big Sky Conference tournament all seven years he has been head coach, resigned Monday to become the top assistant at Auburn.

The Eagles, who also finished in the top three of the regular season standings and won consecutive titles from 2002-04, won the tournament in 2001 and advanced to the second round of the NCAA tournament. The win over Oregon State is the school’s only win in the NCAA tournament.

Benson earned his second Big Sky Coach of the Year award last season after the Eagles, who started 0-5, won 13 of their final 15 matches.

He also was honored in 2002 when the team went 29-2 and made their first appearance in the USA Today/AVCA Division I Top 25. However, after a loss in the league tournament the Eagles didn’t receive an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament.

That team set a Big Sky record for winning percentage (.935) and highest ranking (15).

Eastern finished 20-9 last season, the sixth straight season of at least 20 wins and gave Benson a record of 154-55.

Benson served three years as an assistant to Pam Parks before taking over in 2000 when Parks became associate athletic director.

His first collegiate job was at Western Oregon, where he was an assistant coach for three years and one as head coach with his team going 42-7.

Six of Benson’s teams received the Game Plan/AVCA Team Academic Award, signifying the team had at least a 3.30 grade point average.

Benson is also the club director and head coach for the Spokane Splash Volleyball Club, which won the AAU U-18 national championship last month.