There will be a new coach in charge when the EWU volleyball team takes the court this fall. EWU athletic director Lynn Hickey named Leslie Flores-Cloud the squad’s new head coach on Friday.

“We are very excited to announce Leslie Flores-Cloud as our new head volleyball coach,” Hickey said in a statement. “She will initiate a new era, a new beginning for Eastern Washington volleyball through her high energy and passion. Leslie is an influential leader with an outstanding work ethic who is committed to building a positive team culture and a competitive NCAA Division I volleyball program. She is truly a rising star and we are very proud to have her join the Eagle family.”

Flores-Cloud replaces Michael King, who was fired in March.

Flores-Cloud has spent the past five years at Drake University. She was hired at Drake as an assistant coach in 2013, before being promoted to associate head coach in 2015.

While this will be her first head-coaching job at the collegiate level, Flores-Cloud has experience as a high school head coach. In 2012, she led Maranatha High School in Pasadena, California to a second-place conference finish in her lone season as the school’s coach.

“I want to thank Lynn Hickey for the opportunity to become the next head coach at Eastern Washington University, as well as everyone on the search committee for taking the time to hear my vision and show me around,” Flores-Cloud said in a statement. “I see tremendous potential at Eastern Washington and I am excited to compete in the Big Sky Conference. My family and I are looking forward to moving to the Pacific Northwest and becoming Eagles.”

Flores-Cloud takes over a program that struggled in 2017. The Eagles went 7-18 overall and 4-12 in Big Sky Conference play. King was dismissed from his duties after he made an alleged payment of $300 to a member of the team.

The Eagles had trouble retaining players under King. In 2017, only seven of the 13 players eligible to return, did so.

Leslie Flores-Cloud is currently the team’s only coach. The university is expected to hire two assistant coaches at a later date.

The Eagles are expected to open the 2018 season in August.