Highline volleyball went 2-0 last week to clinch the Co-Region title and earn a No.1 seed in the regional playoffs.
Akshay Rabadia/THUNDERWORD
Highline defeated both Centralia and Pierce in straight sets in last week’s conference play.
On Wednesday at the Thunderdome, Highline cracked down on the Trailblazers for a sophomore night sweep.
The Lady T-Birds progressively widened the scoring gap each set, winning 25-16, 25-11, and 25-10.
Highline tallied a total of 75 points to Centralia’s 37.
It was a great outing on the offensive front for Highline. Sophomore Khadijah Morgan and Rebecca Zenger helped the team with 11 kills a piece.
“I feel 100 percent happy that we closed out Centralia heading into regionals, making us more comfortable in batting it out with the teams we really need to beat,” said middle Khadijah Morgan.
Lexie Moreno/THUNDERWORD
The sophomore class: Rebecca Zenger, Maddison Maafala, Bethany Tuchardt, Lauren Clark, Angelina Pham, and Khadijah Morgan (left to right)
After the match, Highline recognized six sophomores in their last home game as a Thunderbird.
Last Friday, Highline faced third-ranked Pierce for the final match of the conference. The Lady T-Birds won in tremendous fashion taking all three sets 25-17, 25-14, and 25-16.
Highline scored a total of 75 points in the win against Pierce. The team was led by sophomore Bethany Tuchardt who finished the game with 14 kills. Setter Madison Maafala had 31 assists and libero Tru Onitsuka had 21 digs.
Highline finished the season No.1 in the NWAC West standings, giving them the home advantage in this week’s regional playoffs. The Lady T-Birds are on a four game win streak heading into the postseason.
“We have won all our games due to good spirits even in bad times and that takes a good team a long way down,” said Morgan.
The Lady T-Birds concluded the regular season with a 11-1 record in conference play.
With their No. 1 ranking in the West, Highline will host the NWAC West regional playoffs this weekend at the Thunderdome. The tournament is a double-elimination format.
On Friday, the Lady T-Birds will face No. 4 in the East Region, Treasure Valley at 1 p.m.
The winner will go on to play the winner of the Skagit Valley/Chemeketa match on Sunday for a spot in the Elite 8 tournament next weekend.
