Your future, our focus
Open Against Hill College, Could Face Western Nebraska For Third Time
It’s a new season for the Trapper volleyball team.
Forget the 31-4 overall record, the 12-0 conference record and the 22-match win streak. A new season begins Thursday when the Trappers and 15 other junior colleges begin play in the NJCAA Division I National Championship at the Casper Events Center. It will end Saturday with the crowning of the 2015 national champion.
The Trappers earned their spot in the tournament at the Region IX North tournament last week with wins over Laramie County and Western Wyoming. They are coming off an excellent season that has seen them consistently ranked high in the national polls, and for the past several weeks they have been ranked third in the nation. That record has earned the Trappers the third seed in the tournament.
In the opening round, the Trappers will take on the 26-10 Hill College Rebels. Hill enters the tournament as the champion of Region V, which encompasses the western two-thirds of Texas and all of New Mexico. The Rebels were ranked just below the top 20 last week, and are seeded 14th in this week’s competition.
NWC head coach Shaun Pohlman said the teams’ difference in seeding doesn’t mean the Rebels aren’t dangerous.
“The No. 1 seed isn’t always the No. 1 team,” Pohlman said. “Once you get (to the national tournament), anything can happen. Anyone in the top eight teams could take it, and one of the other eight could, too.”
Pohlman said Hill is “a really good team,” and like the Trappers, they have a core of sophomores who experienced the national tournament last year. They appear to have a close bond as a team that works well together with good spirit and a good attitude, and he doesn’t expect an easy match.
“I don’t see them imploding,” he said.
But the Trappers are a close team as well, and Pohlman said their cohesion as a team will be a factor in their play in the tournament.
“Our bond as a team is our greatest strength,” he said. “That bond has been tested, but never broken, and we need that strength now.”
Pohlman said he has seen some signs that his team’s focus is on the right target and they are putting distractions aside.
“They are doing a really good job of ridding themselves of things that don’t matter now,” he said. “They’re ridding themselves of fear, frustration, personality conflicts — that’s what we’ve seen happening this week, and it’s good to see. We want our strength to be our strength and hide our weaknesses. If we can do that, it can mean a difference of one or two points per set, and that can be the difference in a match.”
Because both teams have played in the national tournament before, neither will have an advantage in experience, Pohlman said, and they are even in another respect as well.
“Hill is on a 21-match win streak. We’re on a 22-game streak, and one of us is going to lose,” Pohlman said. “The pressure will be pretty evenly divided. The Rebels are a beatable team, but so are we. If we show up with too many nerves, they could beat us.”
Given the level of competition, one concern is the fact that the Trappers have played into a fifth set only three times all season, and the last of those matches was Sept. 12. But Pohlman expressed no concern about that prospect. Instead, he noted that he frequently receives comments about the length of his practice sessions.
“People always ask me why volleyball practice is so much longer than the other sports,” he said. “The reason is in the nature of volleyball.”
He explained that the ratio of work to rest is one to three in volleyball. That means that during a two-hour practice, players only work 30 minutes while resting for 90. The longer practices are necessary to prepare for longer matches.
“With three-hour practices, we’re preparing for that fifth set,” Pohlman said.
Beating Hill is only the first step if the Trappers are to come home as champions. A win would mean a second match on Thursday against either Polk State, the ninth-ranked team from Florida or 18th-ranked San Jacinto-Central from Texas. Second ranked Western Nebraska, which accounted for two of the Trappers’ losses during the season, along with Yavapai (Arizona), North Idaho and Missouri State-West Plains are also on the Trappers’ side of the bracket.
On the other side, second-ranked (in the polls) Southern Idaho is the top-seeded team, and is joined by Frank Phillips (Texas), Central Florida, Blinn (Texas), Iowa Western, Hutchinson (Kansas), Hillsborough (Florida) and Wallace State (Alabama).
“This is an exciting time of year,” Pohlman said. “This team has worked a ton, and put in blood, sweat and tears. It’s time for them to enjoy each other’s company for one more time.
“If they can center this weekend around their love of the game and love for each other, we’ll have a good tournament.”
Northwest’s match with Hill College begins at 9 a.m. Thursday.
The NJCAA plans to provide video of all matches during the tournament. Fans can visit njcaacasper.net for live coverage. The page also provides a printable bracket, information about each team as well as ticket information for those wishing to attend the tournament.