CHENEY, Wash. — Students are back at Eastern Washington University, and six teams will be at home competing to celebrate. Football hosts Big Sky foe Cal Poly on Saturday at Roos Field, looking to use home field advantage to get their first conference win. Men's Golf is in Coeur d'Alene for its first competition of the new season, while women's golf is even closer to home in Spokane for their second competition of the season. Women's volleyball hosts two Big Sky matches this week as the schedule shifts to conference play. Women's soccer hosts a Pac-12 foe on Thursday in their final tune-up for Big Sky matches. Women's tennis hosts a home tournament against Seattle U as an exhibition to prepare for the spring schedule. 

Football - vs. Cal Poly (Saturday, Sep. 26 at 4 p.m. Pacific Time) - Get Tickets
Eastern Washington is back at home and resuming Big Sky competition for Welcome Weekend and Rush Roos. The Eagles host Cal Poly on Saturday (Sep. 26) for a 4 p.m. Pacific Time kickoff. The game is broadcast on SWX and streamed live on ESPN+. Listen to the game live on 700 ESPN and The Varsity App with the voices of the Eagles, Larry Weir and Paul Sorensen. 

EWU had a FBS matchup this past week, playing Washington in Seattle on Saturday. The Huskies had the lead in the first quarter and carried a double-digit advantage the rest of the game, winning 48-16. The Eagles cut the Husky lead down to 14-10 at the 13:47 point of the second quarter, by way of a 14-yard Nate Bell touchdown run. UW responded with 17 points to close the half and break the game open. The Eagles competed for the entire 60-minute game, continuing to be aggressive into the second half. 

Bell finished with 50 rushing yards on 17 attempts, while passing for 150 yards on 13-of-24(54.2%). Bryce Smith posted 12 tackles with four solo, while Marcus Nixon made his first career interception.

The Huskies' Demond Williams Jr. passed for 373 yards and 4 touchdowns against Eastern. UW out-gained EWU, 546 to 315 in total yards. 

Bell is sixth in the Big Sky in touchdowns with five, while ranking eighth in scoring with 30 total points. He is 10th in the conference with 209 rushing yards, averaging 3.7 per carry. In the pocket, Bell is sixth with 931 passing yards, while tying for seventh with six touchdowns. The Brentwood, Calif. Native is 5th among conference QBs, completing 62.1 percent of his passes.

Eastern has four interceptions this season, tied for fourth in the conference. The team has a pick in each game this season. The Eagles' seven sacks are tied for third in the Big Sky. 

Women's Golf - Kalispel Invitational (Mon.-Tues., Sep. 21-22, All Day)
Eastern gets to play on its home course this week, hosting the Kalispel Invitational at the Kalispel Country Club in Spokane. The tournament started this morning, with teams playing two rounds today, and concludes tomorrow with the third round. Among the field are UC Riverside, CSU Bakersfield, Western Washington, San Francisco, Murray State, Gonzaga, Boise State, Utah Tech, Portland State, Idaho, Grand Canyon, Sacramento State, Utah Valley and Fresno State. The third round starts tomorrow at 8:30 a.m.

Last week, the Eagles opened their 2026-27 season at the Wolverine Invitational. Esha Reddy shot her best 36-hole total of 152 (+8), along with her best 54-hole score of 224 (+8). She tied for 22nd in the tournament. Spencer Cerenzia shot 226 (+10) to tie for 30th on the individual leaderboard. EWU tied for 8th on the team leaderboard with Utah Tech and placed above Idaho. 

Men's Golf - CDA National Reserve Invitational (Monday-Tuesday, Sep. 21-22, All Day)
EWU competes for the first time in its 2026-27 slate and hosts its first tournament since returning to the DI ranks, marking the first D1 tournament in the area in over 20 years. The Eagles host the CDA National Reserve Invitational, starting this morning and ending tomorrow. Teams will play 36 holes today, with 18 to follow tomorrow morning. The course is the tournament's namesake at the CDA National Reserve in Coeur d'Alene. The field is deep with players from Oregon State, Pacific, North Dakota, San Francisco, Seattle U, Saint Mary's, UC Irvine, Tarleton State, Sacramento State, Fresno State, UC Riverside, Boise State, Idaho, Washington State and Hawaii.

In his second season, head coach Russell Grove returns three players from last season in Cal Anderson, Eli McNelly and Charlie Gaffney. Anderson was the Big Sky Freshman of the Year and earned All-Big Sky honorable mention. EWU was picked to tie for 5th in the Big Sky preseason coaches' poll. Eastern Washington soccer returns home this week for its final nonconference match of the season, welcoming Oregon State to Cheney on Friday, Sept. 25. The matchup will serve as the Eagles' final tune-up before opening Big Sky Conference play next week.

Eastern enters the week with a 5-2-1 record after battling Air Force to a 2-2 draw on Sunday in Colorado Springs. The Eagles struck first behind Delaney Deckett, who scored her second goal of the season off an assist from Mia Miconi. Air Force responded with two goals to take the lead, but Eastern continued to battle and found the equalizer late.

Katelyn Pettigrew delivered the tying goal in her first collegiate minutes, finding the back of the net late in the second half to secure the draw. Payton Hyde played all 90 minutes in goal and recorded five saves. The result snapped Eastern's two-match losing streak and marked the Eagles' first draw of the season.

Eastern has put together a strong defensive effort through eight matches, allowing just seven goals while recording four shutouts. Hyde has been a key part of that success, totaling 49 saves with a .875 save percentage and a 0.88 goals-against average. Offensively, the Eagles have scored 11 goals, with Mia Miconi leading the team with three.

Friday's matchup closes out Eastern's nonconference schedule before the Eagles turn their attention to Big Sky play. Eastern opens conference action with back-to-back home matches, hosting Idaho State on Thursday, Oct. 1 and Weber State on Sunday, Oct. 4. Eastern Washington volleyball turns its attention to Big Sky Conference play this week, opening the conference schedule with a pair of matches at Reese Court. The Eagles host Weber State on Thursday, Sept. 24 at 6 p.m. before welcoming Idaho State on Saturday, Sept. 26 at noon.

Eastern enters conference play following the Eastern Volleyball Tournament, where the Eagles faced Nevada, CSU Bakersfield and Portland. Eastern dropped all three matches, including a five-set battle against CSU Bakersfield on Friday, before closing the weekend against Portland on Saturday. Despite the results, the Eagles continued to get contributions throughout the lineup as head coach Jon Haruguchi used several different combinations ahead of the conference slate.

Kalista Lukovich continues to lead the Eastern attack and was named Big Sky Offensive Player of the Week for the third time this season following another standout weekend. Lukovich was also named to the Eastern Volleyball Tournament All-Tournament Team and reached a major career milestone during the weekend, recording her 1,000th career kill. Her continued production has been a key piece of the Eagles' offense heading into conference play.

Carlyn Rapozo-Kamoku provided a spark for the Eagles during the weekend, while Sidney Gray and Judith Bolomboy continued to make an impact at the net as Eastern worked through several different lineups and rotations.

The Eagles will now look to reset as Big Sky play begins. Thursday's matchup against Weber State marks the first of 18 conference matches on Eastern's schedule. Following Saturday's contest against Idaho State, the Eagles hit the road for their first conference road trip, traveling to face Montana on Oct. 1 and Montana State on Oct. 3.

Women's Tennis - EWU Showcase Tournament (Saturday-Sunday, Sep. 26-27, All Day) - Free Admission
The Eagles will host a two-day tournament for their fall schedule, preparing for the 2026-27 regular season. The tournament will be played at the EWU Tennis courts against Seattle U. Each player on the roster will play doubles and singles matches between the two days. Head coach Dustin Hinson is starting his 15th season leading the team. Hinson returns five players from the 2025-26 team that qualified for the first Big Sky tournament since 2021. The returners include Veronika Gayevyk, Maria Lopez, Olivia Marais, Zoe Pradel and Aneliss Zamfirescu. Pradel earned All-Big Sky second team honors last season.
 

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2026 EWU football season tickets are now on sale! Join Spokane County's team for six home games at Roos Field in Cheney starting as low as $99. For more info, visit goeags.com/fbtickets or contact the EWU Ticket Office at 509-359-6059 or tickets@ewu.edu. 

Join the Eagle Athletic Fund for as low as $50 per year! Support Eagle student-athletes on and off the field while enjoying exclusive EAF perks such as season ticket and tailgating priority, invitations to special events, exclusive access, and more. Visit goeags.com/eaf for more information.

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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