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Trappers Shine In Preseason Scrimmage
The Northwest College Trapper volleyball team gave fans a taste of what’s to come this season with a 23- 25, 25-18, 25-21, 24-26, 15-12 exhibition win over Sheridan College on Saturday. The scrimmage was the only one played by the volleyball program this fall.
The Trappers open their regular season this weekend at the College of Southern Idaho tournament. The team will play four games over a two-day span at that event.
“There’s nothing like taking a preseason test and stretching it to five games,” said Trapper head coach Shaun Pohlman, who is entering his second season at the helm of the volleyball program.
After a sluggish start to game one, the Trappers found their stride to close the gap late. The team carried that momentum through into wins in games two and three and held a 21-16 lead in game four before allowing Sheridan to rally and close.
After spotting the Generals a three-point lead early in the decisive fifth game, Northwest roared back, sweeping into the lead just after the midway point. The Trappers pulled away from there.
“This was our only test before the season, and I felt that our athletes did a great job playing Trapper volleyball,” said Pohlman. “They appeared to all be on the same bus and they never really got down when the score didn’t work in their favor.”
Serbian freshman Ana Jakovljevic finished with 13 kills and 12 digs for a double-double to lead the way for the Trappers. Powell sophomore Olivia Rogers added eight kills while Felicity Zegarelli and Niko Adry each had seven kills to rank high on the final stat sheet.
“The nice thing is we saw a rotation that was able to score points and get runs,” said Pohlman. “We still have some confusion with people coming in, but those are things we can work on in practice.”
Returning sophomore Katie Burnett led Northwest defensively with 16 digs. Freshman Triniti Taylor had 20 assists while classmate Mikaela Heble followed closely with 18.
“They really did a fantastic job,” said Pohlman. “They were responsive to coaching requests and changes. Where they are still in learning mode, you couldn’t really see the killer instinct. I believe as the season progresses, they will grow and so will their confidence in the new skills they developed. So, in time, they will find the warrior in them.”