SELAH – Third-ranked Ellensburg kept its hold on first place in the CWAC volleyball standings Tuesday night.

But it took a fight.

The Bulldogs outlasted No. 5 Selah 27-25, 25-23, 21-25, 21-25, 15-7 to improve to 7-0 in conference play and 12-2 overall. Ellensburg clinched at least a share of the CWAC championship with the victory and the top seed in the district tournament.

A fourth straight unbeaten run through the CWAC also remained intact for the Bulldogs, who were the runners-up at last year’s Class 2A state tournament in the Yakima Valley SunDome.

Ellensburg visits Toppenish in its conference finale.

It's the Bulldogs ninth straight conference championship.

Selah (6-1 CWAC, 12-2 overall) heads to Prosser Thursday for a match that will decide the second seed in the district tournament, which is scheduled to begin a week from Wednesday.

The CWAC has two berths to the state tournament, with a crossover with District 1 for a potential third bid to the 2A event Nov. 14-15 in the SunDome.

Joely Tornow topped the Bulldogs with 28 kills, three aces and four digs, Lydia Simmons totaled 11 kills, 18 digs and two aces, and Hadley Potts added 10 kills, six digs, and five blocks.
Sarah Stueckle paced the offense with 27 assists, 25 digs and three aces, and Ava Stueckle chipped in 16 assists, 12 digs and two aces.

Selah’s Madilynn Shurtleff had 22 kills, 22 digs, 20-for-20 serving and two aces, Kjersten DuBois totaled nine kills, 16 digs and three blocks, Emilee Nelson-Hawkins racked up 26 assists, 12 digs, 20-for-21 serving and two aces, Ella Buehler added 23 assists and 11 digs, and Milie Wilkey was 14-for-14 serving, had 17 digs, and an ace and a kill.