State Colleges Report | Eastern tennis revival serving winning marks

CHENEY — A wave of change is going on at Eastern Washington University's tennis courts.

This week, EWU's men's and women's teams will compete in the Big Sky Conference Championships, impressive considering the depths the two programs fell before the arrival of third-year coach Patrick Dreves.

Over the past two years, the record of the Eastern Washington men is 22-19 overall, 8-5 Big Sky, a big improvement over 6-52 and 1-25 the previous four years. The women are 15-27, 5-8 the past two seasons after going 7-59, 3-28 the previous four. Both programs were winless in 2004.

Dreves arrived with an impressive tennis resumé, from playing at Whitworth and being head coach at his alma mater and Linfield to being an assistant at Gonzaga. While coaching Linfield in McMinnville, Ore., he won Northwest Conference Coach of the Year honors twice in three years. He later co-founded and was an assistant at Northwest Tennis Academy in Seattle.

The tipping point for Eastern Washington came when the program earned the backing of the athletic department.

"They decided that they wanted to have competitive Division I tennis programs," Dreves said. "And to demonstrate that commitment, they added to the staff size, bumped salaries and increased scholarships. Jim Thorpe Fieldhouse was resurfaced and eight outdoor courts were built. The administration certainly stepped up and helped out. We are certainly moving in the right direction."

Leading Eastern's tennis revival are a couple of record-breaking Dreves recruits, Pannhara Mam and Kasey Knox . Each set school records in singles victories this year. Knox was Dreves' first Eagles recruit.

"He is a hard coach and he doesn't take it easy," Mam said of Dreves. "I like that. He makes us work. Our assistants [assistant coach Darren Haworth and program assistant Jan Steenekamp] help a lot, as well. They are really experienced and are good players."

Each of the teams has one more negative piece of history to erase this weekend. The men are 0-40 all-time in postseason competition, while the women are 2-39. Each team is favored in its opening contest.

Seattle Pacific

Gymnastics: Senior Kristin Bryant (Anchorage, Alaska) tied a school record for vault with her 9.875 in the first round of the USA Gymnastics Championships. In all, the Falcons tied or broke three major scoring records this season.

Rowing: SPU sends its women's eight and men's four to the WIRA Championships in Rancho Cordova, Calif., this weekend.

Track and field: Junior Brittany Bekins (Cascade of Everett) ranks No. 1 among NCAA qualifiers in the heptathlon (4,944 points) and No. 2 in the javelin (150 feet, 4 inches).

Seattle U.

Softball: Junior right-hander Erin Martin (Valencia, Calif.) earned the GNAC Pitcher of the Week award for the third time this season and seventh time in her career, tied for second in GNAC history.

Track and field: Freshman Dan Sullivan (Foster of Tukwila) became only the second Redhawks male track athlete to win GNAC Athlete of the Week.

General: A charity basketball game last week raised $1,700 for the Make-A-Wish Foundation.

Washington

Baseball: Sophomore right-hander Jason Erickson (White River of Buckley) earned two starts last week and is slated to start Saturday at Utah Valley State. In 40 innings, he has allowed two walks and has a 3.38 earned-run average.

Men's rowing: The Washington and California men's crews clash Saturday at 9 a.m. in their 97th dual. The Huskies' varsity eight is ranked No. 1 and defending national champ Cal is No. 2.

Women's rowing: Two-time defending NCAA champion Cal visits Seattle. The Huskies are ranked 10th in varsity eights and the Bears are 13th.

Men's tennis: Washington (16-6, 4-3 Pac-10) enters the Pac-10 Championships ranked No. 32.

Women's tennis: The Huskies (5-16) enter this week's Pac-10 Championships ranked No. 65.

Washington St.

Baseball: In his third start at designated hitter against Arizona on Saturday, senior Mike Gilbert (Auburn Riverside) keyed a three-run fourth with a two-run single and two innings later hit a solo homer.

Western Washington

Softball: Freshman right-hander Sarah McEnroe (Woodinville) has won eight of her 10 decisions.

Track and field: Western hosts its annual Viking Twilight Meet starting at 3 p.m. on Friday at Civic Stadium.

Rowing: Western, No. 1 in NCAA Division II, won its third straight title at the Northwest Collegiate Rowing Conference Championships last week, winning five of six races.

Women's golf: Western makes its fifth straight appearance in the NCAA II West Regional, April 30 through May 2 in Austin, Texas.

Other colleges

Central Washington: Senior catcher Kelli Spaulding (Battle Ground) and junior right-hander Sara Badgley (Montesano) are the GNAC softball Hitter and Co-Pitcher of the Week.

Evergreen State: Sophomore point guard Carlos Singer (Ingraham of Seattle) transferred from Grays Harbor CC, where he was first-team All-NWAAC Northern Division.

Gonzaga: Sophomore first baseman Ryan Wiegand (San Diego) was named WCC Player of the Week, batting 7 for 15 (.467) with two doubles, two home runs and five RBI.

Northwest: Three Eagles lead the Cascade Conference in track-and-field events. Junior Crystal Gubler (Republic) is No. 1 in the women's 800 meters in 2:18.72, senior Kjerstein Bailey (Sequim) leads the women's 10,000 in 39:01.31 and senior Brett Pflugrath (Ritzville) leads the men's high jump at 6-7.

Pacific Lutheran: Senior Brian Misterek (Gig Harbor) and junior Jason Casey (Curtis of University Place) earned All-Northwest Conference honors after tying for second at the conference men's golf championships in Blue River, Ore.

Puget Sound: Senior right-hander Jessica Roberts (Sumner) pitched a five-inning, rain-shortened perfect game to defeat Lewis and Clark 9-0. She struck out seven of 15 batters.

Saint Martin's: Junior right-hander Pat Capone (Coeur d'Alene, Idaho) beat Northwest Nazarene 9-0, only the second shutout by a Saints pitcher in the six-year history of the GNAC. He allowed five hits.

Whitman: Senior Phalkun Mam (Salem, Ore.), who led the men's tennis team to an undefeated NWC regular season and No. 12 NCAA III ranking, was named NWC Player of the Year.

Whitworth: Led by sophomore medalist Steven Johnson (Marysville-Pilchuck), the Pirates won their third straight NWC golf tournament by 19 strokes.

Elsewhere: Senior Rachel Sternoff (Eastlake of Sammamish) was named Co-Female Scholar-Athlete of the Year at South Carolina's all-sports banquet. She led the equestrian team to its second national title in three years.

Sports information directors

contributed to this notebook.