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Northwest College Shut Out in Idaho
BY RANDAL HOROBIK
Tribune Sports Editor
Volleyball season got off to a rocky start for the defending Region IX North champions as Northwest College was denied victory at the season-opening College of Southern Idaho tournament over the weekend. Northwest lost all five of its tournament games.
The Trappers entered the event ranked No. 25 nationally in the NJCAA’s preseason poll, but encountered three of the top 11 teams ranked in that balloting. Northwest fell 21-25, 22-25, 21-25 to No. 3 Salt Lake. The Trappers were denied 22-25, 17-25, 16-25 by No. 4 Miami Dade and came out on the short side against No. 11 North Idaho by a 20-25, 29-27, 17-25, 21-25 final count.
In addition to that gauntlet, Northwest College fell 23-25, 25-21, 22-25, 13-25 to Snow College and 30-28, 10-15, 27- 25, 21-25, 12-15 to Eastern Utah. Both of those teams were unranked to begin the year.
While the 0-5 start may appear bleak for the Trappers, the game scores also provide plenty of hope down the road for Northwest College. Of the 15 games lost by Northwest College, 10 saw the team score 20 or more points while one additional dropped game came in an abbreviated 15-point tiebreak game against Eastern Utah.
“We had some great moments, but also some disappointing moments,” said Trapper head coach Flavia Siqueira of her team’s first weekend. “I believe we need to be mentally stronger than we showed this past weekend.”
The schedule gets no easier for Northwest College this week. The team returns to the road for a Friday-Saturday appearance at the Salt Lake Community College tournament in Utah where they are scheduled to face four teams currently ranked in the top 13 of the nation.
The Trappers will get rematches against North Idaho and Salt Lake. Northwest is also slated to face No. 2 Missouri St.-West Plains, the team it lost to in the opening round of the 2009 national championships. The Trappers will also meet No. 13 Eastern Arizona.