CHENEY, Wash. – After nearly two weeks of preseason training, a new era for Eastern Washington University volleyball under first-year head coach Leslie Flores-Cloud officially begins next week when regular season matches get underway.
 
"I'm really excited. The girls are buying in to what I'm teaching them as a far as a culture piece and what we're doing systematically," said Flores-Cloud. "There's been a good merging of competitiveness on the floor and figuring out who we all are off the court. It's been a great preseason so far, but I'm excited for us to get on the road and start playing someone else."
 
Flores-Cloud became the eighth head coach in Eastern Washington volleyball history on June 15, 2018. She brought on assistant coach Kelly Bonja and hit the recruiting trail hard, bringing in three new transfers to a class of five returners and seven freshmen who committed in fall of 2017.
 
The relatively young group will look to return to the Big Sky Conference Tournament for the first time since 2016 after finishing 7-18 overall with a record of 4-12 in Big Sky play.
 
"It's going to be a challenge to unite everyone because we have 11 newcomers and five returners. It's going to be a process of learning about each other and figuring out our intricacies and how to mesh and become a unit. Preseason has been a great time to have together," said Flores-Cloud.
 
In all, the Eagles lost eight players from last year's roster but return three starters and reloaded the talent with 11 newcomers.
 
EWU volleyball fans will get the first chance to watch the team live this Saturday (Aug. 18) at 5 p.m. as the squad takes to the court for the Red and Black scrimmage in Reese Court. The 2018 campaign officially begins on Aug. 24 at the Titan Classic where EWU plays UMass Lowell at 11 a.m.
 
Meet the Returners
 
Eastern Washington welcomes back sophomore libero Catelyn Linke, sophomore outside hitter MaKenna Davis, redshirt-senior middle blocker Taylor Larsen, junior outside hitter Kahle Elliott and senior outside hitter Alexandra Espinosa.
 
"Everyone has been buying into our culture. It's been helpful that our returners are really opening and welcoming to what I'm teaching and what I expect of them. I haven't had any brush back or fight on anything, they have loved what I have talked about and that is a blessing," said Flores-Cloud.
 
Linke appeared in 23 matches as a freshman and ranked fourth on the team in digs, averaging 3.37 per set. Elliot started 15 matches a season ago and ranked fourth on the team with 120 kills while Larsen ranked second on the team with 129, averaging 1.68 per set. Both Davis and Espinosa's seasons were cut short due to injury, but Espinosa managed 1.84 kills per set in the 50 sets she appeared in. Espinosa garnered three double-doubles last season while Linke had two and Davis had one.
 
Meet the Newcomers
 
Flores-Cloud hit the recruiting trail hard almost immediately after taking over the helm. She brought in three transfers to add to a class of eight that had committed to the program last fall.
 
"We have a lot of leadership from our underclassman, and that's exciting and something we can build on. As an entire unit, our group is hungry and eager to learn," added Flores-Cloud. "We have a lot of buy-in and we've already started to learn lessons."
 
The Eagles welcome four transfers and seven freshmen to this year's squad. Junior setter Samantha Boever joined the team this past winter after two years at Northern Illinois. Sophomore middle blocker Kamille Langford (Saint Martin's), sophomore setter ShaRae Niu (Hawaii Hilo) and sophomore defensive specialist Puaoolelagi Sao (Winthrop) also bring veteran experience to a young group.
 
Also making their Eagle, and collegiate, debuts are outside hitter Parker Buddy (Reno, Nev./Reno HS), defensive specialist Katie Coulter (Phoenix, Ariz./Veritas Preparatory Academy), middle blocker Kennedy Kaminsky (Chandler, Ariz./Perry HS), outside hitter Alexis Keith (Gilbert, Ariz./Perry HS), outside hitter Grace Nelson (Eugene, Ore./Sheldon HS), right side hitter Kaitlin Sugai (Puyallup, Wash./Puyallup HS) and middle blocker Kassandra Thomazin (Renton, Wash./Oliver M. Hazen HS).
 
Meet the Eagle Coaching Staff
 
Flores-Cloud was hired as EWU's head coach on June 15, 2018. Before Eastern, she was the assistant volleyball coach at Drake since June 2013 and was promoted to associate head coach following the 2015 season. Flores-Cloud was instrumental in improving the Bulldog's overall record of 2-28 (.067) in 2013 to the third-most successful season in program history of 23-10 (.697) in 2017 in which the team broke into the Top 100 RPI after sitting at 303 during her first season.
 
During the 2016 season, Flores-Cloud guided the Bulldogs to their first winning season since 2010 with a record of 17-15. In 2017, she helped the Bulldogs make history again with its first Missouri Valley Conference Tournament appearance since 2010. In addition to the 23 wins, the team's 12 conference victories were the second-most in program history in an 18-game MVC schedule. Drake also earned a pair of first-team all-conference selections, the first time the program had accomplished that feat since 1996.
 
She received a Prep Volleyball Honorable Mention for her 2017 recruiting class and coached two freshmen to All-Missouri Valley Conference honors in 2014 and 2017, an All Iowa-Elite Team member in 2016 and one US Women's Junior National Training team member in 2016.
 
Bonja served as an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator at Bucknell University where she coached one sophomore to the All-Patriot League Second Team and another to the All-Academic Team.
 
Prior to Bucknell, Bonja spent nearly four seasons at Tufts University, serving as a camp staff member, recruiting coordinator and an assistant coach. In 2016, Bonja was named the AVCA National Assistant Volleyball Coach of the Year as Tufts advanced to the NCAA Elite Eight that season. Also that season, her and her staff were named the New England Women's Volleyball Association Coaching Staff of the Year, in addition to the same accolade from NESCAC in 2014 and 2016.
 
She coached several athletes to various honors during her time at Tufts, including two AVCA Honorable Mention All-Americans in 2014 and one AVCA Second Team All-American and AVCA First Team All-Region in 2015. Tufts also boasted several on the All-New England Rookie Team and First Team All-Conference during her stint.
 
Flores-Cloud coached Bonja at Club West Volleyball during Bonja's 16s year of club. The two continued to follow each other's playing and coaching careers ever since before reconnecting on the same staff at Eastern Washington.
 
The Schedule
 
The start of the 2018 campaign brings the Eagles to the Titan Classic in Fullerton, Calif. The two-day tournament runs from Aug. 24-25, with the season opener taking place on Friday against UMass Lowell. The opening weekend concludes with matchups against Akron and hosts UC Riverside.
 
Weekend two includes four matches at the UND Classic on Aug. 30 – Sept. 1. EWU will take on the Fighting Hawks on Aug. 30 for UND's home opener. The Eagles also face Louisiana Tech for the second time in program history on Aug. 31 and Western Carolina later that afternoon. EWU wraps up the classic on Sept. 1 with another matchup against Louisiana Tech to close the weekend.
 
On Sept. 6-7, the schedule takes the Eagles east for the Pirate Invitational hosted by East Carolina in Greenville, N.C. EWU opens the tournament against the hosts for the lone match on Thursday. On Sept. 7, Eastern takes on Charlotte for the second season in a row before capping off the action against Gardner-Webb.
 
The final weekend before Big Sky Conference play takes place in San Antonio, Texas, for the Cardinal Classic hosted by Incarnate Word. Eastern takes on Alcorn State on Sept. 14 before the final nonconference match of the season against Incarnate Word on Sept. 15.
 
Idaho comes to town on Sept. 18 for the home opener and the opening match of Big Sky play. The Eagles then hit the road again for three-straight matches, taking on Northern Colorado (Sept. 22), Idaho State (Sept. 27) and Weber State (Sept. 29).
 
October opens with two straight home contests against Portland State and Sacramento State on Oct. 4 and 6 before the Eagles head to Montana (Oct. 11) and Montana State (Oct. 13). The road swing concludes with a midweek matchup at Idaho on Oct. 16 for the second half of conference competition.
 
The longest home stand of the season begins with Northern Colorado on Oct. 20. Eastern then plays Weber State and Idaho State on back-to-back nights on Oct. 25 and 26.
 
Rematches against Sacramento State and Portland State open up November before the squad returns home to host Montana State and Montana on back-to-back evenings at Reese Court (Nov. 8-9).
 
On Nov. 15, Eastern Washington hits the road one final time for a matchup at Southern Utah before making the trip home to host Northern Arizona for Senior Night on Nov. 17.
 
The top eight teams earn a berth to the Big Sky Conference Championships on Nov. 22-24 in Greeley, Colo. The tournament champion earns the league's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. A reminder that admission to all home regular season matches in Reese Court are complimentary.
  
Preseason Poll
 
The Eagle volleyball program has nowhere to go but up, as they were selected to finish 11^th in the preseason poll by the league's coaches with 17 points behind Southern Utah who was picked 10th with 17 points.
 
Big Sky rival Idaho was picked to win the conference crown with 99 points and nine of the 11 first-place points. They were followed closely by Northern Arizona who was selected seventh with 87 points and two first-place votes.