Sports briefs

Linfield hires new head volleyball coach

Haley Doerfler has been hired as the head coach of the Linfield College women’s volleyball program, Director of Athletics Garry Killgore announced last Friday.

She takes over leadership from Josh Davis, who left after two seasons.

Doerfler becomes the first woman to direct the volleyball program since Robin Vealey coached the Wildcats to a 30-7 record and the Northwest Conference championship in 1979.

“The search committee was very impressed with Haley’s ability to connect with our student-athletes and with members of the committee,” said Killgore. “Haley has great connections within the Pacific Northwest, Hawaii, the South and Great Britain. Those should all aid in our pursuit of high-caliber volleyball student-athletes for Linfield.”

Doerfler wields both collegiate and club coaching experience, as well as substantial college and high school playing experience, in her new position.

Most recently, she spent one year as an assistant coach at Seattle Pacific University and assisted at the University of North Alabama for one year.

Doerfler enjoyed an outstanding playing career, starring at middle blocker at Hawaii Pacific University, where she graduated in 2015.

During her four seasons at HPU, she piled up 394 blocks, leading the team in blocks in three of her four seasons. She also recorded 765 career kills, 208 of those as a senior in 2014.

Young Cats Club

Boys and girls ages 17 and under are invited to take part in a series of Young Cats Club events throughout the 2019-20 school year, including the Linfield swimming team’s upcoming meet against George Fox, Saturday from 12:30-3:30 p.m.

It’s a unique opportunity for kids to experience in person what it’s like to attend a Linfield athletic event and interact with college student-athletes.

After each contest, Young Cats Club attendees can meet and gather autographs from Wildcat student-athletes.

Admission to all designated Young Cats Club events is free. Every YCC participant will receive a free T-shirt and special autograph book.

Kids who attend a minimum of eight designated Young Cats Club events and collect at least one student-athletes autograph from any eight sports are eligible to enter an end-of-year drawing for a valuable prize.