Senior middle blocker Kaitlin Quirk is helping lead the charge for Central’s GNAC-leading volleyball team.

She is one-half of Central’s front-line duo that is leading their NCAA Division II team with 2.99 blocks per set.

Quirk leads the team with 1.39 blocks per set, which is ninth in all of NCAA Division II and third in the GNAC.

Head coach Mario Andaya attributes Quirk’s success to her dedication and hard work. He said she is always the first one in and the last one out during offseason workouts.

“Over the better part of the last five years, she’s just worked so hard to get where she’s at right now,” Andaya said.

Quirk, who has lived in Ellensburg since she’s been in sixth grade, was named Central Washington Athletic Conference Player of the Year her senior year of high school and was a two-time all-conference selection.

She also participated in basketball and track and field while at Ellensburg High School.

Being able to play volleyball after high school in the town she grew up in was part of the reason she came to Central.

“It’s really nice because I always have my parents at the game,” Quirk said. “My family’s been able to be at almost every single game I’ve played, and then I have like friends and community members who are always asking me about how the season’s going.”

One of her favorite memories at Central was beating rival, Western Washington University.

“It’s just one of those moments where it’s just like pure joy after winning a game,” Quirk said.

She also cherishes the relationship she has built with her teammates in her time on the team.

“It sounds cheesy, but it’s literally just a family of girls,” Quirk said. “We may not all get along all the time, [but] you know you have probably some of the deepest relationships you’re ever gonna have in your life.”

She is not the first Quirk to have success in Central’s athletic program.

Her older brother, Tony Quirk, was an All-American offensive lineman for Central’s football team in 2009. And her sister, Chloe Solum, is an assistant coach for Central’s volleyball team.

Kaitlin Quirk said she looks up to her sister, and that Solum is someone that has been there for her on and off the court.

“She’s just always there telling me what I can do better, but then also right there to support me when I need someone to talk to,” Kaitlin Quirk said.

Solum played volleyball at North Dakota State University and has been on the Central coaching staff since 2008.

To go along with being able to play with her sister on the sidelines, Kaitlin Quirk has enjoyed playing for Andaya.

She said Andaya knows what he can get from each player, expects their best every day and is able to get that without being too harsh.

With her senior season of volleyball on the home stretch, Kaitlin Quirk, a public health major, is undecided on whether or not she will go for her master’s degree or try and find a job after this year.

One thing for sure is that she has a chance to make a huge impact for a team that is in position to make a big-run at the end of the season.

The team sits in a three-way tie for first place in the GNAC and finishes with five out of their last eight games at home.

After the season, Central will have to replace a leader and key producer in the middle.

“She’s not done, but thinking ahead we’re gonna miss her presence,” Andaya said.