Your future, our focus
BY SETH ROMSA TRIBUNE SPORTS WRITER
Courtesy of the Powell Tribune
Northwest College volleyball took to Cabre Gym for the first time this season over the weekend, finishing with a 3-1 record in the Trapper Invitational.
NORTHWEST 3, WALLACE STATE 1
The Trappers kicked off the weekend with a familiar opponent, Wallace State from Alabama who Northwest faced the weekend prior in the Big Sky Challenge in Montana.
In front of the home crowd, the Trappers kicked off the first home set in style, pushing the early lead out to 12-5 before Wallace State called a timeout.
Northwest continued to keep the momentum from the strong start, pulling away and winning the first set 25-10.
Wallace State responded in the second set, jumping out to an 8-4 lead.
The Trappers did not panic, continuing to fight until the Lions built the lead to 14-7 midway through the set — forcing a timeout from Trapper volleyball coach Scott Keister.
Northwest rebounded out of the timeout, bringing the score to 18-13 behind strong serving from freshman libero Ellie Thomas — who finished the match with six service aces.
After a timeout by Wallace State, Northwest was unable to overcome the early deficit and dropped the second set 25-18.
Moving into the third set, the Trappers grabbed the momentum early, leaping out to a 10-3 lead and forcing a timeout by the Lions.
Northwest maintained the lead to 18-8, forcing another timeout by Wallace State.
The Trappers lead grew to 23-9, but a late run by Wallace State shrunk the Trapper lead down significantly, but they held on for a 25-17 set victory.
Needing only one more set to finish off the match, the Trappers again jumped out to an early lead forcing Wallace State to call a timeout.
Northwest pushed the lead out to 20-12, before another late rally tightened the contest to 24-21.
The Trappers escaped the late push, finishing off a 25-21 victory to win the match 3-1.
“We did not play well but we found a way to win,” Keister said. “I guess it is encouraging that we can win when we don’t play well, but we have to figure it out and put a match together.”
Freshman right side hitter Kim Pannell finished with 13 kills in the match on 30 attempts, while Thomas led the way on defense with 23 digs.
CARROLL COLLEGE JV 3, NORTHWEST 0
After finishing with an opening night victory on Thursday, Northwest had a quick turnaround to Friday afternoon squaring off with the Carroll College junior varsity team.
The Trappers did not step onto the court ready to face a difficult opponent.
Northwest had previously swept the Carroll College JV the weekend prior in Montana, and Carroll came into the matchup down two hitters who were called up to the Carroll College varsity squad.
Carroll quickly jumped out 3-0, forcing a timeout by Keister.
Northwest responded, tying the match at 9-9, but were unable to capture any momentum dropping the first set 25-22.
Going into the second set, Carroll pushed an early lead out to 16-9 forcing timeouts by Northwest.
The Trappers pulled the match back to 20-19, but continuous service aces and hitting errors gave Carroll College the second set 25-22.
Northwest started the third set stronger, going up as much as 15-9 and forcing both timeouts early from Carroll College.
The Trappers were unable to hold the lead, losing the lead at 21-20 and dropping the final set 25-23.
Northwest finished with a .038 hitting percentage for the match, which included 34 kills against 29 errors on 133 attempts.
“This was a case of a team with no pressure on them,” Keister said. “They were fierce defensively, would send it back over and wait for us to screw up — which we did 55 times.”
NORTHWEST 3, DAWSON 0
Only having a few hours to recover, Northwest came up against a much improved Dawson Community College team Friday night for the second time this season.
One change in the lineup came when freshman setter Kamri Hutchings was inserted into the lineup.
Northwest came out strong in the first set, finishing with eight kills to three errors and a 25-12 win.
“We bounced back Friday night and played really well,” Keister said.
The Trappers played a much closer second set finishing with 11 kills and 11 errors, but escaped with a 25-21 victory.
A convincing third set put the match away for Northwest, which finished with 13 kills and only three errors in a 25-16 win.
Hutchings came in and finished with 30 assists in her first start for the Trappers, and dished out assists to five different Trapper hitters.
NORTHWEST 3, ROCKY MOUNTAIN JV 0
After a rebound performance Friday night, Northwest came out with renewed confidence Saturday evening against the Rocky Mountain JV.
The match was tied early at 8-8, but coming out of a timeout Northwest took the lead and extended it to 19-14.
Keeping momentum, Northwest finished the first set with a 25-16 win and a .367 hitting percentage as a team.
Northwest pushed out to a smaller lead in the second set, but held off any charges from the Battlin’ Bears and pulled off a 25-22 win.
In the third set the Trappers came out firing, pushing out an early lead to as many as 18-5 before finishing the match 25-7.
Six Trappers finished with a greater than .300 hitting percentage for the match, with sophomore middle blocker Sidney Parker leading the way with 12 kills on a .500 hitting percentage.
“We are kind of doing a weird rotation where everybody plays different positions throughout,” Keister said. “It’s similar to what we did last year, which I like because it gives us different looks and makes us more unpredictable.”
Hutchings finished with 39 assists for the Trappers.
DIFFICULT ROAD TRIP
Northwest now heads to Salt Lake City, Utah, to take part in the Crystal “Inn”vitational on Friday and Saturday.
The Trappers match up with the College of Southern Idaho to start the weekend off at 10 a.m. — the only unranked opponent of the weekend for Northwest.
Despite Southern Idaho being unranked, Keister knows they will be a tough opponent as they have won 12 national championships in program history.
The second matchup on Friday at 2 p.m. will be Utah State Eastern, who checks in at No. 15 in the most recent NJCAA rankings.
After finishing off Friday, Keister will face off against his former team and hosts Salt Lake Community College on Saturday at 11 a.m., who is ranked No. 5 in the nation.
The opponents do not get easier, with the Trappers finishing off the weekend against Western Nebraska Community College at 3 p.m. on Saturday, Western is currently ranked No. 4 in the country.
“We are going into the bear’s den,” Keister said. “It is going to be fun. It will show us where we are, every team is well coached and I expect every coach to exploit every weakness we have. Then we get to work on those weaknesses.”
Keister said he scheduled these matches to help challenge his team, before coming back to Powell next week.
The Trappers match against North Idaho College was deemed a scrimmage, moving the Trappers record to 6-1 as opposed to 6-2.