Virginia Danke, Ken Esperas' wife, Darlene, Jack Wilcox
Three legendary volleyball figures in the Spokane community and beyond were inducted in the Spokane Area Volleyball Referees Association Hall of Fame Nov. 14 at the association’s annual awards banquet. Inducted were “the mother of girls high school sports” in Spokane and longtime volleyball referee Virginia Danke; volleyball referee and longtime assigner Jack Wilcox; and Ken Esperas, arguably Spokane’s best volleyball referee during the late 1980s and ‘90s with an NCAA Division I tournament assignment to his credit.
Tom Konis, Patty Kells, Barb Twohig, Noah Ray, Devon Darrough, Matt Halpin, Alan Hirayama (Not Pictured; Jason Gonwick & Rick Wright)
Tom Konis, a Spokane high school and college volleyball referee with 20 years of experience, is SAVRA’s Official of the Year for 2016, as voted by the membership. Other award winners are: Most Improved, Noah Ray; Rookie of the Year, Jason Gonwick; Top 2nd Year Official, Rick Wright; Top 3rd Year Official, Devin Darrough; High School Line Judge of the Year, Matt Halpin; Partner of the Year, Patty Kells; Contributors of the Year, Alan Hirayama and Barb Twohig.
New officers for 2017 are Heide Wehr, president; Patty Kells, vice president; Barb Silvey, past president; Dianna McCauley, secretary; members at large Juli Jones, Shawna Sheehan, Chad Coupland and Debbie Spray. Advanced trainers are Alan Hirayama, Dale Goodwin and Linda Kildew. Basic trainer is Barb Twohig. Treasurer is Phil Robinson. Appeals committee is Margie Ray, Rusty Wellman and Tom Konis.
