Yak Rolls to Semifinals with Sweep of Highline at NWAC Championship

LAKEWOOD, Wash. – The Yakima Valley Yaks continued their last season torrid run, defeating Highline in straight sets (25-19, 25-17, 25-15) in the Elite Eight of the 2024 NWAC Volleyball Championship on Friday afternoon at Pierce College.

The Yaks (21-10) won their eighth straight match as they have caught fire down the stretch of the regular season and into the postseason. YVC got out to early leads in all three sets, not giving Highline any room for error.

The two-headed attack of McKenna Steiner and Kaitlyn Leaverton were too much to handle defensively for the Thunderbirds. Steiner posted 17 kills and a .471 hitting percentage while Leaverton had 15 kills and a .520 hitting percentage. The pair had just three errors between them.

Setter Joleen Jaeger was setting her teammates up well with 25 assists, as was Kalilyn Gomez who had 16. Aburey Tornow led the team with 12 digs while Steiner had 11. Payton Childers paced the Yaks with five block assists, as the team totaled six blocks for the match.

As a team YVC hit .304 while holding Highline to .116. The Yaks also received well with just one service ace allowed in the match.

Highline spread the ball around with five players recording at least five kills, led by Aspen Olson and Halle Garrity who had six each. Madison Mamizuka led all players with 30 assists and Destiny Labuanan had a match-high 13 digs.

Highline finishes a great season as West Region champs and an impressive 29-3 overall record.

The Yaks move onto the semifinals and will next face the only team in the NWAC with a longer current winning streak in Linn-Benton. The match will take place at Pierce College on Saturday at 2 p.m.

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