Your future, our focus
NWC Re-Enters National Polls At No. 18
Facing a pair of Region IX opponents over the weekend, the Northwest College volleyball team emerged victorious on their home court.
The wins bring the Trappers’ Region IX record to 5-0, and 12-5 overall. Although the Trappers started Friday’s match against Casper College (10-13 overall) with losses in the first two sets (28-30, 21-25), they rallied to win the next three. The increasing margins of victories were: 27-25, 25-18, 15-7.
The team hadn’t played a five-set match since roughly a year ago and hadn’t had that kind of comeback in nearly two years, said head coach Shaun Pohlman.
“Being down 0-2 really made us have to dig deep and do something completely unfamiliar,” Pohlman said. “We no longer have to question if we can come back from being down. Now that we have experienced it, we can use it down the road.”
The coach said it was impressive to rally and win in three sets after a long night.
“Maybe not as fun for the fans, but impressive,” he said. “I’ve had a lot of people tell me how much fun it was coming out to the games.”
He said the support from the community and NWC students “is absolutely incredible,” and possibly the best they’ve had for volleyball since Pohlman started.
“I am not sure if the community truly understands how much that means to the students at Northwest,” Pohlman said. “A huge shout out to everyone who was able to make it. The team and I are extremely grateful.”
During Friday’s game against Casper, sophomore Lauga Gauta led the Trappers with 26 kills and 16 digs. Sophomore Lauryn Dela Cruz recorded 20 digs and 14 kills. Mikayla Sellers- Weibe, also a sophomore, had a dozen digs and13 kills. Sophomore Wagner recorded 19 digs.
On Saturday afternoon, Northwest came out strong against Sheridan College 9-10 overall). The Trappers swept Sheridan in three straight sets, winning the first 25-14. They took the next two 25-22 and 25-16.
Gauta led the Trappers with 17 kills and had five digs. Dela Cruz recorded a dozen kills and 11 digs. Olivia Jarvis added six kills and two digs, while Wagner had eight digs.
Sellers-Weibe pitched in with seven kills and six digs.
On Tuesday night, Northwest won in five sets against Rocky Mountain College’s JV team in Billings.
“The last three years, we have set Rocky Mountain JV as a match, but switch it over to a scrimmage later in the season to allow us the opportunity to play with rotations and get some playing time for some of the kids that haven’t had a ton,” Pohlman said. “It really helps reward them for their hard work, but also gives us another look at them in the lineup.”
Being a scrimmage, the win won’t count in the team’s record or stats.
All five of the Trappers’ losses on the year have come to top 20 teams.
“Four of the five are to top 10 teams, and we are only one of two teams to defeat No. 1 Western Nebraska,” Pohlman said.
Northwest College re-entered the national polls at No. 18 this week, after a few weeks of receiving votes but not quite cracking the top 20 rankings.
The Trappers are on the road this weekend, traveling to Torrington on Friday where they will face Eastern Wyoming College — a team that was No. 16 in the national polls until this past week.
On Saturday, NWC heads to Cheyenne for the match-up with Laramie County Community College. Laramie County Community College currently sits at No. 20, Pohlman said.
“We are both tied for first in conference and if we both win Friday night, we will face each other Saturday being 5-0 in conference,” he said, adding, “This will be a tough week and I am excited to continue to be challenged and push within the conference.”