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Northwest Returns To Powell 0-4 On The Weekend
The Northwest College women’s volleyball team went 0-4 at the Salt Lake City Tournament over the weekend, losing to Otero Junior College, Salt Lake Community College, College of Southern Idaho and Miami Dade.
“They were tough teams,” said Lady Trappers head coach Shaun Pohlman.
Pohlman said the three teams from Region IX that competed in Salt Lake struggled, with Laramie County Community College and Otero going 1-3.
“If you’re telling me that the difference between us and some of these other teams is one match, I’m not going to freak out,” said Pohlman of the Region IX team’s records at the Salt Lake City Tournament. “Who wants to lose? No one does, but at the same time, it’s a matter of, what are we going to do to get better?”
The Lady Trappers lost to Otero in three games, 25-21, 25-19 and 25-22. At one point, NWC led 22-19 in the first game, but ended up dropping the next six points to lose the game.
“Again that comes back to this team gets kind of pushed,” Pohlman said. “They’re passive and they kind of take it, so they are learning to fight.”
The next matchup for the Trappers was against Salt Lake Community College, falling 25-14, 25-15 and 27-25.
On Saturday, NWC college faced off against the No. 1 team in the nation — Miami Dade College — and lost 25-22, 25-13 and 25-16.
In the first game, the Lady Trappers were down 11-4 before chipping away at the lead to pull within a point at 20-19. They were unable to take a lead, however, eventually losing the set.
“Just a couple plays here and there really helps,” Pohlman said.
Finally, NWC faced off against the College of Southern Idaho. The Lady Trappers dropped the first two games 25-13 and 25-19 before winning the third game 25-23. CSI won the fourth game 25-13.
“We’ve got nowhere to go but up,” said Pohlman of his team. “I do think we have figured out some things about ourselves — what we are and what we’re not, what we want to be. So now it’s my job to put them in positions to improve the identity and to improve our play.”
This weekend the Lady Trappers head to Twin Falls, Idaho, to play in the Starr Invitational at the College of Southern Idaho.
“This week, we will face tough teams again,” Pohlman said.
The first game of the invite will come against College of Central Florida, a team typically ranked in the top 10 in the nation. The matchup starts at noon Friday. That will be followed by a 7 p.m. game against Monroe Community College — a team that went to the national tournament last year.
The Lady Trappers’ third game features another national tournament team in Arizona Western. Game time is scheduled for Saturday at 9 a.m. The fourth and final game is on Saturday at 1 p.m. against Hutchinson Community College.
“These are good teams, but at the end of the day, they are not Miami Dade and CSI,” said Pohlman who went on to say that at this tournament there will be some breathing room.
“If we play this next week like we did last week, we will probably get the same results, so this will be a good opportunity to see if we are improving, even if it’s by one match,” said Pohlman.
The Lady Trappers have a season record of 1-4.
“I said at the end of this two weeks we could be 1-8 [or] we could be somewhere in between,” Pohlman said. “Right now we are on track to be 1-8. It’s up to me and it’s up to our team to improve our status — and I think we have the ability to do so.”
At the Salt Lake City Tournament, Luana Rezende had seven aces and 44 digs while leading the team with 42 kills. Aleksandra Saric had 24 kills and Shania Warren had 19. Bre Donarski of Powell added 32 digs while Jamie Hardy contributed 23.
Blocking was a struggle for the team, as Julianna Hughes had seven and Kiandra Franklin had five.
“When it comes to blocking the higher level teams, if you don’t have a well-formed block, the other team will school you,” Pohlman said.
For assists, Demery Dean led the Lady Trappers with 55, followed by Jess Ruffing with 33 and Kailee Becking with 22.