Your future, our focus
By SEAN THOMPSON
Powell Tribune Staff Writer
In order to defeat the 15th nationally-ranked NJCAA volleyball team and end a 10 match losing streak in the process, the Northwest College Lady Trappers need to bring maximum effort at home Tuesday night against Western Wyoming Community College.
But that scenario did not materialize, said NWC head coach Sue Pollart, and Northwest (11-28 overall, 0-6 subregion) lost a 20-30, 12-30, 14-30 match.
Pollart said her team was beaten in every aspect of the game, but the thing that bothered her the most was the lack of effort shown in defeat.
"If we could have come with effort and desire, we could have stayed in the gym with them," Pollart said. "I don't know if we could have beat them, but we could have made it a contest."
The Lady Trappers never led in the first game, though they were able to stay within striking distance of the Mustangs. Trailing 13-11 after a kill by Jessica Fabrizio, NWC gave up seven of the next eight points. Mental errors like letting a ball drop and a missed serve cost Northwest, and Western seized the opportunity to go on the attack and finish off the Lady Trappers with a number of kills down the stretch.
It looked as though Northwest might fall behind big early in game two, but the Lady Trappers came back from a 4-1 deficit to take their first lead of the match at 6-5. Northwest tied the score at 9-9 with a kill, but at that point, Western seemed to flip a switch, outscoring the Lady Trappers 21-3. The Mustangs delivered numerous kills, and when they weren't slamming the ball, Northwest couldn't dig serves or set up a counter-attack.
Game three resembled game two in that Northwest was able to keep it close early and actually held leads until Western went on a big run. Northwest came out of the break with aggression and took a 3-1 lead on a kill by Shawna Sutherland. The lead changed hands three times before Northwest had a 13-11 advantage. That's when Western came alive, sending big kills across the net or lightly placing the ball in the middle of the floor between defenders. The Lady Trappers couldn't counter, having their kill attempts blocked or hit harmlessly into the net on NWC's side.
The statistics backed up Pollart's conclusion of Northwest being beaten in every aspect. Western had 54 kills to 24 for NWC, and only one Lady Trapper, Fabrizio, came close to double figures with 9. Western had 83 digs to Northwest's 58, led by Whitnie McDonald with 13. And Northwest had only one serving ace and four serving errors.
"I don't think there was a part of the game that we played to the level we should have right now," Pollart said.
The lack of effort on display Tuesday was most frustrating, Pollart said, and likely a product of accepting defeat before the match was actually over.
"I think there's a complacency from losing that's kind of set in, so I guess it will be my responsibility to get the fire going again," Pollart said. "I'll blame it on myself that I can't get us through it because I've never been through it much myself."
Pollart said she and the team are moving on from Tuesday's performance with the goal of exerting more effort with two home games this weekend against Laramie County Community College (9-20) Friday and Eastern Wyoming Community College (11-24) Saturday. The two teams own victories over the Lady Trappers this season, but Pollart said NWC was competitive in each match and has a chance to get a win if the effort is there.
"The effort it takes to win, we're not putting forth," she said. "And the thing you can control as a player is your effort. If everybody comes to play on the same day, we could break through this."
The match Friday begins at 7 p.m., and Saturday's match starts at 3 p.m.