Your future, our focus
Regional Play Begins This Week
The regular season ended for the Northwest Trapper volleyball team after they collected two more wins last week, and this week they take their 28-4 record to Rock Springs and the Region IX North Tournament on a mission to qualify for the National Tournament.
The Trappers traveled to southeast Wyoming last week to face Eastern Wyoming and Laramie County Community College for the second time. They came home with a 12-0 conference record after winning both matches, but according to head coach Shaun Pohlman, it wasn’t easy.
The Trappers began the competition in Torrington by pinning a 25-10 win on Eastern Wyoming in the opening set, but the Lancers’ game arrived in the second set and they battled hard before NWC pulled out a 25-22 win. The Trappers earned a sweep in the third set, but like the second, they had to work for their 25-19 win.
The next night’s match was even tougher, thanks to Laramie County’s gym, Pohlman said.
“It is incredibly difficult to play at LCCC. Their gym has an incredibly low ceiling, and it intruded on our ability to get into our system,” Pohlman said.
The ceiling was a particular problem for the Trappers’ scoring leader, Aleksandra Djordjevic. During her jump serves, Djordjevic tosses the ball nearly to the Cabre Gym ceiling. Pohlman said she missed six serves in the match and did not have a good game otherwise.
Even so, the Trappers opened the match with a 25-19 win, but the Golden Eagles tied the match at 1-1 with a 25-21 win in the second set. NWC recovered the momentum after that to win the next two sets, 25-19, 25-16, and take the match, 3-1.
The Trappers were aided by the return of two players who had been nursing injuries, Emily Herrera and Reilley Baty returned to the team for the trip.
“We had everybody back and we really needed them,” Pohlman said.
Both Tuiana Filiaga and Herrera played during the weekend Pohlman said, and although Baty did not play, “just having her warm up” was a good thing with the tournament coming up.
“Tuiana came off the bench on Friday and lit a spark,” Pohlman said. “We were a little down at that point, and I think she really made the difference.”
Teodora Tepavac and Lauga Gauta also had outstanding games during the trip.
While the perfect conference record, the 28-4 overall record and a No. 3 ranking nationally are impressive, Pohlman said they don’t mean the Trappers will sail through the regional tournament easily.
“With our record, there will obviously be a target on our back, and teams are really going to be up for us,” he said. “We have to be up for every game.”
Pohlman said his team has improved throughout the season and he believes they have developed the maturity they need to play through the regional and qualify for the National Tournament when it comes to Casper later this month.
“As long as the emotional issues we’ve been working on all season are under control and we keep things on an even keel, I think we’ll play well,” Pohlman said.
His hope is that they qualify for the National Tournament and have a chance to play top-ranked Western Nebraska, the team responsible for half of NWC’s losses, and the only team on the schedule the Trappers haven’t defeated.
Referring to the first of those two losses, when the Trappers were up 2-0 and leading in the third set before Western Nebraska came back to win in five sets, Pohlman said, “We’re a different team than we were then, and I want another shot at them.”
The Trappers open play in Rock Springs Friday at 4 p.m. Their opponent will be the winner of a Wednesday match between Laramie County and Sheridan College. The event is a true double elimination tournament.