Your future, our focus
NWC volleyball team faces LCCC , Eastern Wyoming at home Friday, Saturday
By DAVID DICKEY
Powell Tribune Sports Editor
The Northwest College Lady Trappers dropped three straight games en route to a match loss to Western Wyoming Community College Tuesday night in Rock Springs.
The Mustangs opened the Region IX match with a dominant performance and handed the Lady Trappers a 30-10 setback. NWC did fight back to make game two close before falling 30- 25, but in the third game, Western Wyoming was able to claim a convincing 30-18 victory.
According to NWC head coach Jesseca Cross, the Lady Trappers endured one of their worst matches of the year, and it came on the heels on an impressive effort in which they won two of three matches at the Miles City Triangular last Friday.
"It was really frustrating because we played so well last week," Cross said. "Western jumped on us early, and we got rattled and never could develop any consistency."
Cross also noted that the Lady Trappers failed to show the team chemistry they displayed during the tournament in Miles City.
"At times, the girls play so well together, but that wasn't the case (against Western Wyoming)," Cross said. "We have to get to a point where the girls trust everyone around them on the court. They have to know anybody who is on the court will give everything they have
for the team, and we just didn't get that Tuesday night."
The Lady Trappers, now 0-5 in Region IX Conference matches, will attempt to get back on track starting Friday when they open a two-game stand at home.
NWC faces Laramie County Community College Friday at 7 p.m. and follow with a Saturday
matchup against Eastern Wyoming College at 3 p.m.
Cross said now is the time when the Lady Trappers will show if they have the mental toughness to make a strong run to close out the season. At the conclusion of this week, NWC will have just five matches left before the Region IX West Tournament begins Nov. 1.
"It's a long season, and this is the time when players start to suffer from burnout or step up to the plate and produce," Cross said. "The teams we're facing Friday and Saturday are teams we should beat if we come out and play like we're capable of playing. The key for us is to not disappear when things don't go our way. We have to be able to battle through when things go
wrong. We can't just give up if we aren't able to turn things around right away. The girls have to step on the floor ready to play and maintain that intensity until the end no matter what happens. If they do that, we'll have a lot better chance to be successful."