Eastern Washington University Athletics

Becoming just the ninth in Big Sky Conference volleyball history to earn first team all-league honors at least three times, Hayley Hills had a prolific four-year career at Eastern Washington from 2006-09. She was selected to the All-Big Sky Conference first team for a third-straight year in 2009, including the Big Sky Conference Most Valuable Player award as a junior. She and former Eagle Kim Exner are the only two Eagles on the current list of just 18 players to earn first team All-Big Sky honors three or four times in league history (entering 2025 season). Prior to 2014 when the league opted to increase the first team from six to 12 members, only 11 players had accomplished that feat in 29 seasons (1985-2013). In addition, Hills was All-Tournament at the 2008 Big Sky Championships when EWU finished as the runner-up, as the Eagles did in her freshman season in 2006 (in 2007 and 2009 EWU advanced to the semifinals). She helped EWU win 71 matches from 2006-09 as the Eagles won the 2008 Big Sky regular season title.

Hills climbed into the second spot on Eastern Washington's career kills list with 1,428 (still second entering 2025). Her total at the time trailed only the school record of 1,860 set by Kim Exner (1995-98), and also ranked 13th all-time in Big Sky Conference history (now 19th entering 2025). Her career average per set of 3.85 remains second in school history and 15th in the Big Sky entering 2025. Twice she had 30 kills in a single match, ranking her second in school history at the time (third overall entering 2025). She had at least 20 kills on 23 occasions, ranking her second behind Kim Exner’s 37 (still second entering 2025), including a record seven-straight matches in 2007. She finished her senior season with a team-leading 375 kills (3.50 per set to rank fourth in the Big Sky) and ranked second on the team in digs with 292 (2.73 per set). Following impressive performances in wins over Montana and Montana State in September of 2009, Hills was named the Big Sky Conference Player of the Week. Hills also earned POW honors on four occasions as a junior in 2008 and once as a sophomore in 2007, and also was honored as EWU’s Scholar-Athlete of the Month. She had 491 kills as a sophomore and 490 as a junior to rank fourth and fifth all-time at EWU (both at the time and entering 2025). She earned Big Sky Conference Player of the Year honors as a junior in 2008 when she averaged 4.58 kills per set, an average that led the conference and ranked her eighth among all NCAA Division I players. She also earned CVU.com honorable mention Stellar Spiker accolades in 2008, becoming one of just two Big Sky Conference players to be honored by the organization. Hills and the Eagles finished the 2008 campaign 18-11 overall and were 12-4 in Big Sky play to claim their first regular-season title since 2004.

After graduating from Correlieu Secondary in Quesnel, British Columbia, in 2006, Hills played for three different Eastern coaches – Wade Benson, Irene Matlock and Miles Kydd. She helped Eastern to a Big Sky Conference record of 46-18 (.719) and overall mark of 71-46 (.607), and in her final three seasons at EWU (2007, 2008 and 2009), the Eagles were 26-6 at home at Reese Court. She returned to Eastern in the 2021-2022 school year to serve as an assistant coach for EWU’s volleyball program. She worked on her master's degree at Eastern, having earned her bachelor's degree from EWU in 2010 in communication studies. Prior to that, she spent 10 seasons coaching in Canada, including 2012-14 when she worked for Volleyball Canada as a head coach at their Center of Excellence in Kamloops, B.C. She trained and developed athletes of all ages and levels using specific program guidelines, lesson plans and resources provided by Volleyball Canada. From 2015-2020 she was with the East Kootenay Volleyball Club in Cranbrook, B.C., as head coach of the U15, U16, U17 and U18 programs. In 2017, her U18 squad was the Division 2 national champion in Canada. In addition, she spent three seasons in 2011-2013 as an assistant coach at Thompson Rivers University in Kamloops, helping the program to its first-ever playoff berth in 2012. As she continues working toward her master’s degree at EWU, Hills is now helping the CPA Volleyball Club based in the Spokane area and run by Benson and his wife Jill.