Sports Briefs

Pease earns NWAC volleyball honor

The Northwest Athletic Conference announced its selection for Volleyball Players of Week 6 and former Cheney Blackhawk, freshman Kinsey Pease of Clark College in Vancouver, Wash. earned the honor as top setter.

“Kinsey has been stepping up for us, leading the offense to where we want to go,” Pease’s coach, Mark Dunn, said. “(She) had a great serving week without an error,” for the 5-1 Penguins.

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EWU’s Zack Johnson earns POW award

Eastern Washington University senior football player Zackary Johnson has been honored as the ROOT SPORTS Special Teams Player of the Week as selected by the Big Sky Conference.

Johnson, a 2010 graduate of Stanwood High School and transfer from Washington State University, had a blocked punt in the third quarter versus Northern Colorado Oct. 18. It was recovered by sophomore Samson Ebukam and led to an Eagle touchdown and 20-3 lead in EWU’s eventual 26-18 victory.

The Eagles have blocked punts the last three games — a “trifecta” as head coach Beau Baldwin called it — with all providing significant boosts for EWU. As a result, EWU is tied for the lead in FCS in that category with three on the season.

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Eastern sweeps soccer road trip,

Williams earns Big Sky’s honor

Eastern Washington women’s freshman soccer forward Chloe Williams was honored as the Big Sky Conference Offensive Player of the Week after scoring game-winning goals against Southern Utah and Northern Arizona.

Williams’ goal in the final minute of the first half helped Eastern win 2-1 over Southern Utah, Friday, Oct. 17. Laci Rennaker’s goal tied the match in the 16th minute.

In Flagstaff on Sunday, Oct. 19, Williams’ shot cruised just out of the reach of the keeper to give Eastern a 1-0 lead in the 21st minute. The Eagles would hold on for their first victory over NAU since 2004.

“This was a huge road trip for us this weekend,” Eastern head coach Chad Bodnar said. “This trip is a real tough one travel-wise for anyone, and playing in the altitude makes it even harder.”

The Eagles improve to 7-6 overall, and 4-3 in Big Sky play. They host Northern Colorado Friday, Oct. 24 at 2 p.m.

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Eastern serves up second half of VB season

The Eastern Washington University women’s volleyball team (4-4 Big Sky, 8-13 overall) opens the second half of Big Sky Conference play with a pair of home matches against South Division foes Idaho State, Thursday, Oct. 23 and Weber State, Saturday, Oct. 25.

Both matches are set to begin at 6 p.m.

Fans who bring a canned food item to Thursday’s match will receive a special $2 admission price while Saturday’s match will feature the opportunity for those ages 10 and under to trick-or- treat before Halloween.

EWU is coming off of a pair of home victories over Montana State and Montana, both by 3-0 scores, last weekend, something that had not happened since 2011.

Against Montana State, the Eagles opened up a quick 6-1 lead, punctuated by a kill from junior Allie Schumacher. Senior Melissa Waelter led all players with 13 kills while Schumacher added 10 kills on 15 swings, hitting .533 for the match versus the Griz.

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