Volleyball Hall of Famer reflects on Eagle family

Kim Exner-Rosenbach played two years on the Canadian national volleyball team and joined three European pro leagues, but nothing, she said, compared to her Hall of Fame career at Eastern Washington University.

"The girls from Eastern and I still talk all the time about how no team in history will ever have what we had," said Rosenbach. "I'm sure all teams feel like that, but it was a special time for everyone and I don't think it could be duplicated."

Rosenbach was not only talking about leading EWU to a 46-12 record her final two years in 1997 and 1998, winning a Big Sky co-regular season title in 1997 or the team's at-large berth in the 1998 NCAA tournament. Eagle volleyball was her family.

"The particular chemistry of the team when she was on it was magical," said former coach and current Associate Athletic Director Pam Parks. "Kim was very fun loving. She was a jokester, so she was a lot of fun to have on the team."

The "Exner waddle" was her signature, a boast of triumph that Rosenbach used to rub good plays in opponents' faces. "After I had a block, I'd kind of waddle back, facing the other player in the team circle, making sure I was still looking at them. I feel like I'm partly responsible for the no taunting rule," she said.

A three time All-Big Sky selection, Rosenbach was a 1997 co-Big Sky Conference MVP and a unanimous selection for 1998 MVP. She won the American Volleyball Coaches National Player of the Week award that year, and also received Inland Northwest Amateur Athlete of the Year, as selected by Spokane Sportswriters and Broadcasters. Her four-year Eagle career ended with a conference record 1,860 kills.

Sisterhood was ubiquitous among her Eagle teams, consequently setting a standard of synergy never met on Rosenbach's professional squads.

"Europe and the national team was frustrating at times because you take the best player from each team, put them all on one team, and it's this big ego struggle and it's just infuriating," said Rosenbach. "At Eastern, all the girls were so committed, we spent so much time together and we knew each other so well."

This September, Rosenbach and past players plan to reunite for a 10-year reunion in San Diego. Rosenbach may not make it because she'll be "too pregnant by then" with her second child, now three months on the way.

After being introduced by Parks to recently-released Washington State University and former EWU offensive coordinator, Timm Rosenbach in college, Rosenbach has become a nomadic family woman. She lives in Pullman, Wash., but will soon relocate to New Mexico, where Timm Rosenbach was hired.

A melancholy undertone exists for Rosenbach as she relocates her residence because of an attachment to her work at the Bishop Estate senior living complex in Pullman.

"I never feel like I'm ever at home," she said. "I knew Pullman would be temporary. And since my husband is a football coach, everything from here on out may also be temporary." Rosenbach embraces new challenges and adventures, so she said she's OK with frequent moving.

"Being open-minded and having good manners" is significant to Rosenbach. Her 3-year-old child, Reece Tammy, named after Reese Court at EWU (but spelled differently) and WSU football Head Coach Paul Wulff's late wife, needs to learn this importance, she said. Rosenbach is unsure of her next child's gender, but said her husband loved that Reece Tammy was female.

Rosenbach's team-centric identity with EWU carried over into her 2007 EWU Hall of Fame induction. She credits herself for success, but only with assistance from Eagle counterparts.

"I was inducted as an individual, but there's no way I could have done that without the people that I had around me; there's no way," she said.

Although she has a family of her own, Rosenbach said that at Eastern, "I never felt like a number. I always felt really welcome and like I was part of a unique family there. I think it was truly special."