Your future, our focus
A 1-3 showing at the College of Southern Idaho Starr Invitational on Friday and Saturday has dropped the Northwest College volleyball team to 5-6 this season.
Trappers coach Shaun Pohlman is now looking for ways to get a team that finished eighth in the nation last fall back on track.
“We’ve underperformed and it’s unfortunate, and we know that,” Pohlman said. “But we’ve addressed it.”
NWC went winless Friday, failing to win a single set during losses to Snow and North Idaho. The Trappers bounced back Saturday however, falling to No. 3-ranked CSI in five sets before downing eighth-ranked Salt Lake 27-25, 21-25, 26-24, 26-24. It was NWC’s second victory over a top-10 team this season. It knocked off then No. 10 San Jacinto College 3-0 25-17, 28-26, 25-22 on Aug. 22.
Aleksandra Djordjevic led the Trappers with 19 kills during the victory, and Kimber Call dished out 39 assists. Teodora Tepavac had 17 digs.
While the sub-.500 start wasn’t what Pohlman hoped for when the season started, he’s encouraged by the fact that four of his team’s losses have come at the hands of ranked teams or teams that could be ranked when new polls come out this week.
“I think it says a lot about our capacity as a team to defeat two top 10 teams and take the No. 3 ranked team to five sets, and put them on the ropes,” Pohlman said. “It may seem disheartening to come home 1-3 (after the CSI Invitational), but we ended things on a good note, and this was a positive learning experience for the team.”
The Trappers return to action 7 p.m., Thursday, traveling to Sterling, Colo. to face Northeastern Junior College.