Locally

Ferris will recognize veteran coach Ward

Ferris volleyball fans will honor veteran coach Stacey Ward at a get-together following the final home match of her 18-year career Thursday night.

The Saxons, who take on Shadle Park in a non-league match at 7 p.m. in Ward’s final home appearance, are 0-7 this season in Greater Spokane League and 1-8 overall.

Afterward, present and former players, parents and fans are invited to join Ward at Roundtable Pizza, 4510 S. Regal.

Ward has won more than 400 matches since becoming coach at Ferris in 1990, winning five league titles and six state trophies.

Info: Keith Ward, 981-8755,

College scene

Rachael Schurman, a Central Washington junior from Mead, set a single-match record with 14 blocks in the Wildcats’ Thursday volleyball win over Seattle Pacific.

Central’s 20 blocks as a team was its highest in a match since joining the Great Northwest Athletic Conference in 2001.

Schurman and fellow Panthers graduates Erin Norris and Kady Try lead Central in kills with 271, 190 and 185, respectively. Schurman (79) and Norris (76) are 1-2 in blocks and Try (127) is fourth in digs for the Wildcats, fourth in the GNAC.

Basketball

The Spokane Blazers high school girls team went 5-0 to win the MSNM Fall Classic Elite Championship, an NCAA high school viewing tournament, in Seattle last weekend.

There were 36 teams in the tournament, 18 in the elite division.

The Blazers ran their 2007 record to 45-4.