The Yakima Valley volleyball team is off to a hot start, winning three of its first four preseason matches at the North Region Challenge on August 21-22. The new-look Yaks, who graduated most of the key contributors from last year's co-conference championship squad, won their first three matchups in straight sets before falling to Edmonds, 3-2.

In Friday's tournament opener against Bellevue, Lauren Chamberlain and Portlynn Stacey each recorded 10 kills to lead YVC to a 25-22, 25-23, 25-20 victory. Aydyn Anderson added eight kills and 16 assists, Emilee Nelson-Hawkins delivered 16 assists, and Lauren Jensen and Vilomena Cavuilati chipped in six kills apiece. Mireya Kawaguchi led the defense with 13 digs and Anderson added seven, while Jensen sent home five blocks.

Alivia Colbert guided the offense in Friday afternoon's 25-10, 25-13, 25-16 win over Tacoma, posting a team-high 11 kills. Stacey added six putaways, while Nelson Hawkins delivered 13 assists. Anderson added 11 assists to help YVC post a .351 kill percentage.

The Yaks kept things rolling in Saturday's opener against Olympic, cruising to a 25-19, 25-21, 25-19 victory. Stacey paced the offense with 11 kills, Colbert had nine and Jensen had six as YVC finished with a .277 kill percentage. Anderson and Nelson-Hawkins notched 16 assists apiece, Anderson added nine digs, and Cavuilati added eight digs.

Saturday's finale started off on the right foot, but the Yaks eventually fell to Edmonds in a tiebreaker by scores of 23-25, 25-23, 25-23, 16-25, 15-12. Colbert posted a team-high 14 kills, Jensen added 11 and Chamberlain had 10, while Anderson recorded a team-high 25 assists to go with 16 digs. Kawaguchi guided the defense with 25 digs and Malia Wheeler added 12. Nelson Hawkins chimed in with 17 assists and eight digs.

YVC (3-1 overall) returns to action Wednesday at home against Pierce, followed by a weekend road trip to the Idaho Border Challenge, where they will face Green River, North Idaho, Carroll College JV and Spokane.