Your future, our focus
Trappers Labor to 17th Win
Moments after seeing its chance for a sweep dwindle away, the No. 17-ranked Northwest College volleyball team needed a history lesson.
“After that third set, I just asked them, ‘What is the culture of Northwest College volleyball?’” Trapper coach Shaun Pohlman said. “‘What are you going to do right now to protect that culture?’”
NWC responded with an 8-0 run to open the fourth set of the match, and went on to defeat visiting Sheridan for a 25-19, 25-20, 20-25, 25-13 Region IX victory Tuesday at Cabre Gym.
Despite finding victories in 12 of their last 13 contests, the Trappers (17-7, 3-0 in Region IX) have struggled with errors as of late. Those struggles continued against Sheridan, starting with the first set.
Neither team seemed eager to pull away early, as the two squads sat deadlocked at 8-8 following a Generals hitting error. The Trappers finally gained some breathing room at 15-9 thanks to four more Sheridan errors and kills from Megan Huddleston and Aleksandra Djordjevic (22 total), but the Generals refused to go away.After an NWC error, a Sheridan kill pulled the visitors within 16-14. The Trappers strung together enough kills down the stretch, capped by a spike from Djordjevic, and Huddleston’s ace ended game one.
“We wanted to play well, so we worked hard,” said Djordjevic, who also had three aces. “It got hard at some points, but we wanted this victory.”
Things got especially hard for NWC just when they appeared to be getting easier. With his team enjoying a 20-12 cushion, Pohlman said momentum quickly shifted when Krystalyn Sloan’s serve sailed out of bounds.
“I think right at that moment, Sheridan took an opportunity and sort of ran with it,” Pohlman said.
The Generals, fueled by six Trapper errors, proceeded to go on an 8-1 burst to cut their deficit to 21-20. Sheridan’s two self-produced points came from Tara Hall’s kill and an ace from Maarryn Davis.
Teodora Tepavac’s block ended the onslaught, and NWC managed to finish out the scoring to take the set, capped by Tepavac’s ace.
Still, momentum seemed to stay in the favor of the Generals.
“[Sheridan] pretty much had us on our heels and we didn’t respond the right way,” Pohlman said. “We didn’t shift or adjust and we paid for it in that third game.”
Sheridan posted a 4-0 lead in the third set thanks to three more NWC errors and Hannah Jernigan’s kill. The Trappers attempted to push back, and climbed within 12-10 midway through the game, but the Generals again gained control at 18-12 with another Jernigan spike.
Casey Rich’s back-to-back kills pulled NWC within 18-14, but after a Sheridan timeout, Paige Jernigan’s block and two consecutive Trapper errors had the Generals in control at 21-14 and the visitors didn’t look back. Sloan’s consecutive kills and a
Sheridan error almost gave the Trappers life at 23-20, but a kill and setting error ended NWC’s chances.
“We want to be better,” Tepavac said. “We struggled in that set, but we want to be better, and the fourth set was much better. We were just happy to play strong and take this win.”
The decisive game seemingly featured a brand-new NWC team, as the Trappers exploded out of the gate after Pohlman’s mid-set pep talk. Tepavac started the 8-0 run with a kill, and followed a Sheridan error with an ace. Huddleston and Djordjevic sandwiched kills around a Generals’ error before Huddleston (eight total) knocked down two straight spikes to finish the run.
“I think once the girls decided to play with some intensity, they were able to control the match a little more and things worked in our favor,” Pohlman said. “Sometimes it takes a tough set like we had to open your eyes a bit and I think that’s maybe a little bit of what happened.”
The Trappers saw their lead balloon to 23-11 late in the match on a Sloan block. And Tepavac eventually capped the victory with a kill.
Tepavac finished with 13 kills. Kimber Call had 31 assists, followed by Huddleston with 24. Elisa Brooks had a team-high 15 digs, and Djordjevic had 11 to give her a third straight double-double.
“It was nice to see the girls rebound the way they did, that’s reassuring,” Pohlman said. “But we still have a lot of work to do, and I think the girls know that after tonight.”
NWC sees its next action Saturday when it hosts Casper at 3 p.m.