Your future, our focus
BY SETH ROMSA TRIBUNE SPORTS WRITER
Courtesy of the Powell Tribune
Heading down to Utah, Northwest Trapper volleyball coach Scott Keister expected to learn a lot about his team coming up against three top 20 teams and a 12-time national champion program.
Northwest came out of the weekend 0-4 at the Crystal “Inn”vitational in Salt Lake City, but Keister said he believes his team learned a lot about what it takes to compete at the top.
The weekend started against the College of Southern Idaho (6-1), which has won 12 NJCAA titles in its history.
The Trappers (6-5) competed in the first two sets, but came up short losing 25-21, 25-20, 25-10.
Turning around on Friday, the Trappers matched up with No. 9 ranked Utah State Eastern (8-3) finding themselves in another difficult matchup.
Northwest struggled in the first two sets, finishing with negative hitting percentages as a team.
The Trappers lost the matchup in straight sets 25-13, 25-13, 25-22.
Heading into Saturday the Trappers matched up with the hosts, No. 6-ranked Salt Lake Community College Bruins (9-2).
Northwest competed again in the first two sets, but were swept 25-19, 25-19, 25-15.
“I felt like we improved, and we definitely learned a lot,” Keister said.
Finishing out the weekend the Trappers matched up with No. 5-ranked Western Nebraska (10-1).
Northwest struggled early on in the match, but settled in and competed at the end.
Despite finding their footing late, the Trappers were swept 25-9, 25-19, 25-21 to finish the weekend.
“All four teams were really good,” Keister said. “Going back and rewatching all the matches and looking at the stats there is a lot of stuff we have to control.”
He said the Trappers lost each set on average by eight points, and Northwest was on average giving its opponents 73 percent of their points.
Keister said being able to take care of the ball is something the team is focusing on this week after struggling in all three phases of play.
He said the Trappers were able to get a look at teams in their region including Central Wyoming and Casper College.
Afterward, Northwest was able to attend the Division I matchup between top teams BYU and Pitt to learn more about what it takes at the top level.
He said the team came into a tough practice to start the week, and focused on individual skill work in hopes of fine tuning the team’s play.
“You might see a new mentality this week after playing those teams,” Keister said.
Northwest took on the Rocky Mountain JV on Wednesday, and will take on Miles Community College on Friday.
The matches with Miles begin at 2 p.m. with the second match scheduled to start 30 minutes after the end of the first match.