Area roundup: EWU soccer coach Chad Bodnar rewarded with new contract
Eastern Washington women’s soccer coach Chad Bodnar has signed a new four-year contract, athletic director Bill Chaves announced Tuesday.
In Bodnar’s first season at the helm, he took a team picked to finish 10th in the Big Sky Conference preseason poll and won eight matches, the second-most wins in program history.
The Eagles finished the Big Sky season with five victories, the most in a single season, and returned to the conference tournament for the first time in five years.
EWU opened the year scoring in its first 10 matches, a program record, and finished the year with six shutouts, the most in a single season.
Eastern’s 27 goals in 2014 are second most all-time while its 18 assists are a school record.
The new contract keeps Bodnar in Cheney through the 2018 season.
Volleyball
Gonzaga junior outside hitter Savannah Blinn was named to the All-West Coast Conference first team for the second year in a row.
Blinn, from Lewiston, finished the season with 566 kills, seventh most in the nation and fourth-most in school history. She was also second on the team with 84 blocks.
Blinn’s play helped the Bulldogs finish 17-12, equaling their highest win total since 1990.
Blinn was named to the All-Freshman team in 2012 and was a first-team selection last season. She is the first GU player to receive consecutive awards since Kelley Cunningham in 1992 and 1993.
Alexa Gray, from BYU, was named the WCC Player of the Year.
Men’s basketball
North Idaho beat Columbia Basin 99-85 in a nonconference game in Pasco.
The Cardinals improved to 8-1 on the season.
Next up for NIC is the Bigfoot Classic this weekend in Spokane.
Columbia Basin fell to 1-5.
Women’s basketball
North Idaho edged Columbia Basin 80-79 in a nonconference game in Pasco.
The Cardinals (6-2) host Centralia on Saturday in another nonconference game. Tip-off is set for 5:30 p.m. at Christianson Gym in Coeur d’Alene.