Your future, our focus
Four-set win
Things didn’t start off well for Northwest volleyball Tuesday night, as the Battlin’ Bears of visiting Rocky Mountain College roared out to a 17-7 lead in the opening match.
“Early on I was thinking that this might be a short night for us,” Trapper head coach Shaun Pohlman said. “Up until midway through the second set, we were struggling.”
With a few regular starters out, as the team manages some minor injuries, Pohlman mixed and matched with his lineup, with positive results not coming quickly.
“We aren’t a recreational volleyball team, which means not everyone is going to get significant playing time,” Pohlman said. “We are dealing with a few injuries, and so the girls out there tonight we had no substitutes for, and their backs were against the wall. They had to play well.”
Back to that 17-7 mark of the first set, the Lady Trappers started to show signs of life on an Olivia Jarvis kill that got it to 17-9.
After the Bears scored twice, Northwest went on a seven-point run behind a Nevena Pejovic kill, a Maliyah Tela block and a tip for score from Pejovic, cutting the once sizable lead to just three at 19-16.
Another short run after a Rocky Mountain score edged it even closer at 20-19. Despite two kills from Mikayla Sellers- Weibe and one from Holly Pittman, the Bears were able to get a 5-3 edge the rest of the way for a 25-22 win.
Again in the second set, the Trappers got down early, looking up at a 9-3 score.
But they started their comeback a bit sooner this time around as a run that saw two Sellers-Weibe scoring swats closed the gap.
Rocky Mountain built the lead back up, but Northwest kept clawing as Olivia Jarvis converted four scores and Samantha Waite two.
Then, after kills from Pejovic, Sellers-Weibe and Julianna Hughes had narrowed the deficit to 22-19, a four-point run gave the Trappers a 23-22 lead.
The Bears bounced back and got to set point at 24-23, but a big block from Jarvis sparked Northwest’s three straight scores to snatch the 26-24 win.
“After we got the win, I just told the girls to play with confidence from the start,” Pohlman said. “Come out strong, get the lead and maintain.”
Rocky Mountain scored the first two points of the third set, but the Lady Trappers quickly evened things up and took the lead for good at 9-7.
The Bears would stay close for a bit, still within two points at 15-13, but the ladies in red ran off two scoring runs, with two kills each from Pejovic and Hughes, to blow it open and cruise to a 25-15 win.
The fourth set played out somewhat the same, with a tight contest early on and Northwest settling in and stretching the lead.
From a 10-10 score, a couple mini runs, capped by a Waite slam, put the lead at 18-12.
Rocky Mountain climbed back into contention, getting as close as 21-19, but the Trappers scored four of the final six points, the final one coming on a Pejovic kill, to win the set and take the match.
“There were times where we really worked well together and played very smoothly, and it was nice to see,” Pohlman said. “We obviously have a lot to work on still, but it was a good night for us.”
A good night for plenty of individuals also, as Sellers- Weibe paced the offense with 15 kills, with Pejovic adding 13 and Jarvis 10.
Hughes came up just short of double figures in kills, but had a strong scoring percentage with eight kills on just 13 attempts.
Jarvis added an impressive six blocks to shore up the front line of the defense, while the back line was anchored by 19 digs from Reilley Baty, 13 from Lauryn Dela Cruz and 12 each from Sellers-Weibe and Breanna Donarski.
Their first regular season test new behind them, the Lady Trappers next head to Salt Lake City for the Crystal Inn Invitations tournament, where they will face Central Florida College at 10 a.m. on Friday and MSU-West Plains at 2 p.m.
Two more games come Saturday against the defending NJCAA national champion College of Southern Idaho at 9 a.m. and NJCAA runner up Western Nebraska Community College at 11 a.m.