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NWC’s “Walking Wounded” Find Way to Win
BY RANDAL HOROBIK
Tribune Sports Editor
The Northwest College Trappers swept Casper College 25-19, 25-16, 25-23 on Tuesday night. Combined with a pair of weekend wins over Dawson and Sheridan, the injury-plagued Trappers improved to 16-16 overall for the year and 9-3 in Region IX North volleyball play.
Tuesday’s victory was a particularly vital one for the program. The three-game sweep secures Northwest’s hold on third place in the Region IX North standings and positions the squad to pounce on any late-season stumbles by Laramie County Community College, currently just a half-game ahead of the Trappers in the standings.
Freshman Sandrina Hunsel finished with a game-high 14 kills against Casper. The performance pushed Hunsel’s season kill total over 400 and leaves her third in the national rankings for total kills this season.
Not bad for someone playing just her third year of organized volleyball.
The Trappers got off to a fast start, vaulting to a seven-point lead early on before surviving a mid-game rally that brought Casper back to within two points. Game two was almost the opposite with the two Region IX rivals battling point-for-point early before a late-game flurry from Northwest left Casper staggered. Game three provided the usual nip-and-tuck play that fans of the Casper-Northwest rivalry have become accustomed.
Sophomore Jessica Denney finished with five blocks in the contest.
Weekend action saw the Trappers defeat Sheridan by a 25-23, 16-25, 25-20, 25-12 final score before heading to Montana to deal Glendive a 25-15, 24-26, 25-8, 25-10 defeat.
“The Sheridan match was really intense and full of rallies,” said Trapper coach Flavia Siqueira. “Sheridan played great defense and we had to work hard to get our points. Against Dawson, all of our players had the chance to play.”
Hunsel finished with 39 kills between the two matches. Phoibe Fetu had 25 assists against Sheridan while Allison Hart had 29 assists and a team-best four ace serves against Dawson. Danielle York added 11 kills against Dawson while serving up a trio of ace serves against Sheridan.
Defensively, Gianesi Tarafa took part in 15 blocks between the two weekend games. Valerie Lesu continued a solid sophomore season along the back row with 34 weekend digs.
Northwest College heads to Rock Springs this Friday to face No. 2 Western Wyoming in a Region IX contest. The Trappers head to Colorado on Saturday for non-region games against Air Force Prep and New Mexico Military before returning to Cabre Gymnasium on Monday night for the final home game of the season. The Trappers host the Rocky Mountain College JV squad that night at 7 p.m.