WALLA WALLA, Wash. – It came down to the wire, but the Bushnell volleyball team was able to win the Battle for the Bye, defeating Walla Walla University in four sets on Friday, 25-15, 22-25, 25-14, 25-18, to clinch the No. 4 seed for the Cascade Collegiate Conference Tournament.
 
Hitting over .300 for the fourth time this season, Bushnell had just 12 attack errors and forced the Wolves into 36 attack errors and a .032 attack. The Beacons held a 10-1 advantage in blocks.
 
With the win, Bushnell ended the regular season at 19-11 and tied with No. 23 College of Idaho for fourth-place in the CCC at 14-8. The Beacons swept the regular-season series with the Yotes to earn the tie-breaker and claim the No. 4 seed and a bye into the quarterfinals of the conference tournament on Friday. C of I will host a play-in game between themselves and the No. 8 seed Wolves on Tuesday.
 
Head Coach Jason Corwin said, "This was a really good win for us tonight. We didn't let the disappointment of last night get in the way of competing together with a purpose. I am really proud of what we accomplished by securing the bye. We are excited to get ready for the next phase of the season."
 
Hailey Heider continued her monstrous season with another 23 kills and a .400 attack, adding 12 digs for her 11th double-double of the season. She now has 344 kills on the season, the second most in school history and within sniffing distance of the single-season record of 388 (Tami Brown, 2012).
 
"I am beyond proud of this team and what we have done so far this season," said Heider. "Tonight we shut down Walla Walla's offensive threats and capitalized on their errors. The postseason is going to be so fun and I can't wait to watch how far we can go!
 
Amyah Semau also provided some fireworks on the left pin, collecting 13 kills and 15 digs while Leah Agost held her own on the right side, hitting .571 with 12 kills and zero attack errors. Agost said "I am so proud of all that we accomplished tonight. We knew we needed to come out with energy and an aggressive posture and we did just that. We finished the CCC season on a high note and we showed up when it counted the most."
 
Bella Parque led all players with 21 digs while Kate Palelek and Katie Belitz combined for 44 assists and three service aces. Parque said, "What a night! To end conference play by clinching fourth was well earned. Everyone stepped up tonight and we all battled. This was a great game full of competitiveness, smiles, and opportunities. Stoked about this is an understatement."
 
"I am really proud of the team and our ability to come out strong after a tough loss last night," added Palelek. "We put a big emphasis on playing for each other tonight and it showed from start to finish. We knew the importance of this game and we were able to bring a lot of energy to keep out standard of play."
 
Makenna Mosher and Brooklynn Dechent each earned five blocks for the Beacon defense. For Mosher, she now has 107 blocks on the season which is also the second most in school history. She is just eight away from breaking the single-season record of 114 (Natalie Downes, 2019).
 
Walla Walla (9-15, 8-14) who had clinched their school's first ever qualification for a Cascade Collegiate  Conference post season tournament, was led by 17 kills and 15 digs from the CCC's leading attacker Sahara Browning. Natalia Jimenez added 13 kills while Melissa Monterroza earned a team-high 15 assists.
 
As the No. 4 seed, all the Beacons know at this point is that they will play on Friday morning in the CCC Quarterfinals with the game taking place at either 9:00 am or 12:00 pm, and they will be headed to La Grande as Eastern Oregon University won the right to host the conference tournament. The Mounties were joined by Southern Oregon University and Corban University as the conference's first-ever Tri-Champions, and earned the tie-breaker. SOU claimed the No. 2 seed and Corban takes No. 3.