‘Unstoppable’: Brockway caps G-K career as state champion, TNT All-Area player of the year
Nestled within the Yakima Valley SunDome last month, Loni Parks and Graham-Kapowsin’s coaching staff watched as Hailey Brockway and the Eagles made history and the senior outside hitter cemented an illustrious local legacy.
It took little time for Parks, in her 15th season as head coach, to realize both Brockway’s confidence and dominance in her final high school tournament and attempt at glory. Parks turned to her assistants after Graham-Kapowsin swept aside No. 10 Gonzaga Prep in the bracket’s opening round last Nov. 18: “No one is going to stop her or us.”
By week’s end, the Eagles were state champions. They stormed to upsets via sweep in the semifinal and title matches a day later, dropping a single set throughout the tournament’s entirety. And Brockway, meanwhile, had completed what Parks described as “the tournament of her life,” stacking 20 kills, eight digs, and two aces in the championship win over No. 4 Lake Stevens.
It was inevitable: Graham-Kapowsin possessed the South Sound’s best player, and took home the state trophy much to her credit.
“This is the end goal that everyone wants,” Brockway told The News Tribune on Tuesday. “It just played out perfectly.”
Graham-Kapowsin entered as the seventh seed, though everyone – Brockway included – “felt it in their bones” that a championship neared. The title-match-sealing point drove Brockway to tears as teammates stormed the court, leaping for joy.
“Everything that we and she touched was gold,” Parks said.
For a third time, Brockway is The News Tribune’s All-Area Volleyball Player of the Year.
Make it a hat trick for the South Sound’s most feared hitter.
Brockway was named the Class 4A Player of the Year by the Washington State Volleyball Coaches Association and earned MVP honors for the 4A SPSL South. One rival coach considered her “a leader on and off the court.” Another deemed her a “great sportswoman,” one who “dominated for four years” and constantly poses a threat.
A third coach: “Unstoppable at the net.”
“I think hard work, dedication, poise, consistency,” Parks said. “All of those things go into being an amazing athlete. Overall, from day one since she got here, (Hailey’s) worked her butt off to fight for what she wanted.
“All along, she wanted a state title. Over the years, she knew it wasn’t going to come easy. All of those things led her to get that.”
A laundry list of accomplishments complement Brockway’s formidable resume; what remained missing was a state title, until last month.
“It means everything,” she said. “That’s the best way to explain it. I can’t pinpoint how it feels, because the whole thing is just a blur. I knew we were going to win. It was just amazing, and it means everything to me and to the team.”
Brockway stormed atop leaderboards amid her senior season and Graham-Kapowsin’s title run. Her 551 kills and 6.4 kills per set led all classifications, and her .342 hitting percentage ranked 13th in the state.
As a senior, Brockway added 39 aces, 21 blocks, and 213 digs. Her 582 kills as a junior in 2021 led the state by 61.
By the age of seven, Brockway had joined her older sister’s volleyball team and never looked back, an enthusiast for the sport ever since.
“Once I (got) on the court, I knew that this was the place I needed to be,” she said Tuesday. “I love this sport. It’s just me.”
Teammates adore her, and she adores them equally. To Brockway, personal achievements are just as much accomplishments to her peers, which include seven fellow seniors.
“I obviously couldn’t have done anything without them,” she said. “They were a support system for everything that I did on and off the court.
“Everything we did was as a whole. We won as a whole. Everyone contributed together.”
Off the court, Brockway was a devoted leader and habitual attendee to team dinners and gatherings. When she stepped on, she possessed a keen confidence Parks found incomparable.
With effort to give second thought, Parks paused: “It was nothing short of one of the most successful careers (at Graham-Kapowsin), if you think about it.
“Explosive, successful, amazing, fabulous, wonderful, extraordinary, all of the above.”
Brockway departs Graham-Kapowsin’s program as a state champion and with a trio of TNT All-Area Player of the Year awards in tow. She leaves behind a legacy younger Eagles will aim to replicate in her absence.
Said Brockway: “The environment that I was in constantly, with some of my best friends I’ll ever have… that’s what I’ll miss the most.”
Her college career starts next. Coaching changes after her initial commitment prompted a second visit to Illinois State University, which only reaffirmed her year-old decision.
“I went back and visited the new coaches, and one thing that really stuck out was how much the new head coach reminded me of Loni,” Brockway said. “I even told her that. … That was one of the big things… to have a coach that will treat me like the coach that I’ve had for four years.”
Parks, seated next to Brockway, smiled. “I’m very honored, very blessed to ever (have coached) a kid like Hailey.”
