The Linn-Benton volleyball team will play for their fourth consecutive NWAC Championship on Sunday.
The Roadrunners advanced to the title game after beating Yakima Valley on Saturday in the NWAC Semi-Finals at Pierce College in Lakewood, WA. Linn-Benton finished the job in four sets, with scores of 25-15, 20-25, 25-18, and 25-15.
At the start of the match, the Roadrunners looked unstoppable, getting out to an 8-0 lead in the first set before Yakima would call a timeout. The team’s versatile offense would see them through the rest of the set as six individual players scored a kill for the Roadrunners. Brooklyn Willard led the team with five kills in the first set, while Kinsey Brelage tacked on two aces for Linn-Benton.
“We’re a real well-rounded team,” said Brelage. “We can give it to any one of our players on the front line and we know that any one of them can hit the ball down.”
As the second set began, Yakima looked like they had found a solution for the Roadrunners’ high-powered attack. The Yaks knocked down 13 kills and forced the Linn-Benton team into committing nine errors. Despite the mistakes, the Roadrunners still held an 18-17 lead late in the set. However, Yakima’s offense turned up at just the right time, winning eight of the last ten points to secure the second set.
For the first time in their season, the Roadrunners had lost the second set of a match. Perhaps most concerning was how the set had ended, with Yakima taking the last four points on two aces and two blocks to send their fans into a frenzy. With the match now even at one set each, Linn-Benton knew they had to find a way to deafen the noise and stop the Yaks.
“Once we lose a set, I think that lights a fire under us. We just want it even more after that,” said Brelage.
Both sides would exchange points early in the third set, with the score even at 8-8 through 16 points. However, kills from Maddy Hellem, Grace Luttrell, and Amy Pappas contributed to the Roadrunners taking 11 of the following 12 points to lead 17-9. Yakima attempted a late comeback, getting within four points of Linn-Benton, but the Roadrunners’ vaunted offense guided the team into clinching the match’s third set.
Looking to keep their championship hopes alive, the Yaks started off the fourth set aggressively, leading 8-5 with seven kills through 13 points played. Linn-Benton responded to the deficit in typical fashion, going on an 11-1 run to flip the momentum. Following a few back-and-forth rallies that extended the Roadrunners’ lead to 24-15, a kill from Luttrell sealed the match for the team, putting them through to their fourth consecutive NWAC title game.
Willard finished with a team-high 17 kills, while Meah Carley recorded 23 assists. Four members of the Roadrunners finished with three or more block assists, with freshman Annabelle Peterson leading the pack with six block assists.
“We executed all the details,” said Peterson, “our defense was good, we were picking up stuff, offense executed, and then our block was terminating.”
In only her first season at Linn-Benton, Peterson has already established herself as one of the team’s best blockers. Peterson has the second-most blocks on the team and has led the Roadrunners in blocks for each of their last five games.
The Roadrunners will be hoping for another stellar defensive performance from their freshman in the title game; however, it will take an all-around effort from everyone on the team to clinch Linn-Benton the championship. The Roadrunner’s lockdown defense and dynamic offense led to the team’s conference-best overall record of 34-0. Paired with a group of determined players as close as a family, the team will fancy their chances.
“We worked really hard to get here, I’m really excited for the team to be playing in the championship again,” said Peterson.
For the championship game, Linn-Benton will face off against Skagit Valley in a rematch of 2021’s NWAC Volleyball Championship. The two teams met earlier in the year at the North Region Invite at Skagit Valley College, where the Roadrunners won in three close sets on the Cardinals’ home court.
Linn-Benton and Skagit were the only two schools in the NWAC this year that amassed over 30 wins. The Cardinals will look to avenge their 2021 championship defeat, while the Roadrunners will look to become just the second school in NWAC history to four-peat as champions.
The championship match between Linn-Benton and Skagit Valley will be at Pierce College in Lakewood, WA, and starts at 3 p.m. on Sunday.