CHENEY, Wash. — Eastern Washington volleyball head coach Jon Haruguchi announced the addition of Eagle Hall of Famer Hayley Hills to the coaching staff. Hills returns to Cheney, where she built one of the most decorated playing careers in program history before beginning a collegiate coaching career that has spanned more than a decade.

"I'm so excited to have Hayley with us," Haruguchi said. "This has been a long process, but we knew from the beginning she was the right person for this position. During her time as a player, she gave so much to this program, and I'm so glad to welcome her back to Cheney and Reese Court."

Hills starred for Eastern from 2006-09, earning First Team All-Big Sky honors three times and being named the Big Sky Conference Most Valuable Player following her junior season in 2008. She became just the ninth player in conference history to earn first-team all-league honors at least three times.

During her standout 2008 season, Hills averaged 4.58 kills per set, leading the Big Sky and ranking eighth nationally among NCAA Division I players. She helped guide Eastern to a 21-11 overall record and a 12-4 mark in conference play as the Eagles captured the Big Sky regular-season championship and advanced to the conference tournament championship match.

Hills finished her Eastern career with 1,428 kills, ranking second in program history, while her career average of 3.85 kills per set also ranks second in the EWU record book. She recorded at least 20 kills 23 times during her career, including a program-record stretch of seven consecutive matches with 20 or more kills in 2007.

She earned Big Sky Player of the Week honors six times during her career and was named to the Big Sky All-Tournament Team in 2008. Hills helped the Eagles win 71 matches during her four seasons in Cheney.

Her accomplishments in an Eastern uniform ultimately earned Hills induction into the Eastern Washington Athletics Hall of Fame in 2025, cementing her place among the most accomplished players in program history.

Hills now returns to EWU with more than a decade of coaching experience. Most recently, she served as the first assistant coach at Cal Poly Humboldt from 2022-25.

The move also marks Hills' second stint on the Eastern coaching staff. She served as a graduate assistant coach in 2021 before moving into an interim assistant coaching role in 2022.

Prior to her first stint on the Eastern staff, Hills served as a U15-18 head coach for East Kootenay Volleyball Club in Cranbrook, British Columbia, from 2014-20. She began her collegiate coaching career at Thompson Rivers University in Kamloops, British Columbia, serving as the first assistant coach from 2011-13.

Hills returns to Cheney with a unique connection to Eastern Washington volleyball, pairing one of the most accomplished playing careers in program history with more than a decade of coaching experience as she begins the next chapter of her career on Reese Court.



ABOUT EASTERN WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY ATHLETICS
Eastern Washington University Athletics sponsors 14 intercollegiate sports, six for men and eight for women, both as learning opportunities for its most athletically talented students and as an enhancement to student and community life. Eastern is affiliated with Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and is a member of the Big Sky Conference, an association of 10 regional schools with comparable enrollments and academic goals.

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