The Highland Huskies finished the volleyball regular season with their first victory over the rival WACO Warriors in seven years, winning a five-set thriller in Riverside last night.

WACO took the opening set 25-17, but Highland responded by winning the next two frames 25-20 and 25-21. When the Warriors extended the match by winning the fourth set 25-19, the Huskies responded once more by taking the decisive fifth set 15-9.

Highland ends a nine-match losing streak in the series overall, finishing conference play with a 6-2 record and improving their overall mark to 13-15. WACO falls to 4-4 in the Southeast Iowa Super Conference North and 17-12 in total. Both teams are off the rest of the week until the playoffs begin, with the Huskies traveling to Wapello and the Warriors hosting Iowa Valley in the first round of the Class 1A Region 6 tournament Monday.