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Win Over Dawson Vacated Due to Ineligible Player
Northwest College saw its victory total for the season lowered by one game after the school was required to forfeit a Sept. 14 victory over Dawson Community College after self-reporting the use of an ineligible player in that contest.
The infraction involved the eligibility form for freshman Mayara Conilho, a middle hitter from Brazil. A delay in Conilho's visa approval prevented the freshman from arriving on campus until Sept. 6, when the Trappers were already seven games into their season.
Trapper athletes fill out and file eligibility forms with the National Junior College Athletic Association when they report for the preseason. Due to her delayed arrival, Conilho's NJCAA eligibility form to participate in volleyball for Northwest was not filed prior to her appearance in games Sept. 12 against Laramie County and Sept. 14 against Dawson.
Northwest College discovered the oversight and filed an eligibility form on Sept. 17. The school also alerted the NJCAA to the situation.
NJCAA officials ruled that even though Northwest College caught and reported its own violation, the two contests in which Conilho appeared before submitting eligibility paperwork must be forfeited. The Trappers swept Dawson in three games in a game that will now go as a loss for the team. NWC's September loss to Laramie County will stand as-is.
Northwest College's record for the season now sits at 14-6 overall as a result.
This marks the first time Northwest College has experienced this sort of problem, according to interim athletic director Dana Young.
"We have processes in place to safeguard against it," Young said. "But nothing is failsafe."