Your future, our focus
BY SETH ROMSA TRIBUNE SPORTS WRITER
Courtesy of the Powell Tribune
Returning to Cabre Gym after a difficult road trip through Utah proved to be an added boost for the Trapper volleyball team, which swept the Rocky Mountain JV on Wednesday and Miles Community College twice on Friday.
NORTHWEST 3, ROCKY JV 0
A strong atmosphere spearheaded by a big student section helped the Trappers (9-5) get off to a fast start Wednesday night.
“Our student section was into it which was awesome,” Trapper coach Scott Keister said.
Libero Ellie Thomas helped get things going for Northwest, going through a long string of service that pushed the early lead out to 11-2 — forcing a timeout by Rocky.
The Trappers carried that momentum, building the lead out to 20-8 and finishing the first set 25-8.
Despite winning the first set, the Trappers gave away a majority of the points to Rocky Mountain after committing six errors on kill attempts.
Heading into the second set Northwest started strong, going ahead 7-2 to immediately force a timeout from Rocky.
Rocky brought the game back after the timeout, making it only an 11-9 lead for Northwest.
“I think we gave up one run of five or six, but overall I thought we did really well,” Keister said.
The set remained close, but the Trappers were able to hold off any challenges to win 25-21.
In that set the Trappers hitting improved, as they finished with 18 kills in the set compared to seven errors.
Northwest closed out the match in the third set, building on an early 7-4 start that swelled to 21-11 before winning 25-15.
Megan and Kim Pannell both finished with eight kills, while Sidney Parker led the way with four solo blocks and three block assists.
Thomas finished with five service aces on the night.
“[Thomas] learned how to get a hold of it and make it move a lot, I equate it to a curveball in baseball,” Keister said.
NORTHWEST 3, MILES 0
Starting off Friday, the Trappers went into a pair of home matchups against MCC (0-12) hoping to make a statement.
The first set started out strong initially, but Miles battled back to make it 9-8.
Northwest survived any push from Miles, and walked away with a 25-19 first set victory.
In the second set, Northwest did not start strong initially, with the score 10-7.
The Trappers then went on a 9-1 run to blow the set wide open, allowing the Trappers to cruise to a 25-12 victory.
The Trappers finished with 13 kills compared to two errors in the set for a .355 hitting percentage.
After the strong second set the Trappers came out even stronger, cruising through the third set to a 25-9 win.
In that set the Trappers finished with 12 kills, no errors on 14 total attempts for an .857 hitting percentage.
“We hit an astronomical percentage and I have never seen that,” Keister said.
NORTHWEST 3, MILES 0
Thirty minutes separated the two matches, allowing the Trappers a short amount of rest.
Miles again came to play in the first set, keeping the score close and maintaining an 18-16 lead late into the start of the second match.
Northwest recovered, finishing the match on a 9-2 run to win 25-20.
“We have to learn to start matches,” Keister said. “It takes us a minute to get it rolling, and we need to work on that.”
The second set again proved to be a battle, with Northwest holding an 18-15 lead midway through.
The Trappers finished strong again, winning 25-19 setting up a third set for another sweep.
Northwest started the final set out on a 10-0 run, before cruising the rest of the way to a 25-7 win.
“We need to be more consistent for sure,” Keister said. “We need to put three to five sets of these [third sets] that we had against Miles together.”
Hitting in the third set the Trappers once again finished with no errors, finishing with 10 kills on 18 attempts for a .556 hitting percentage.
Kim Pannell led the way with 11 kills, Parker finished with nine, Brooke Palmer had seven and Mia Sorensen finished with five kills and no errors.
Elsa Clark had three solo blocks and three assisted blocks.
Kamri Hutchings and Emma Hanson split setting duties — Hutchings finished with 21 assists and Hanson had 12.
DIFFICULT ROAD TRIP
Northwest now heads out on the road for one last tournament, the Wyo-Braska Tournament before kicking off region play next weekend.
This tournament will have the Trappers facing off against No. 5 ranked Western Nebraska (13-2) on Thursday (today) in Scottsbluff at 7 p.m.
“We are traveling the day of, having to sit on a bus for eight hours then going to play is tough,” Keister said. “Then you consider the opponent and the environment and it will be tough.”
Northwest then travels back over the border to Torrington on Friday to take on Lake Region State College-North Dakota (8-5) at 2 p.m.
Another short turnaround has Northwest squaring off in the nightcap against Colorado Northwestern Community College (0-2) at 7 p.m.
Finishing off the weekend the Trappers face Northeastern Junior College (7-7) Saturday at 1 p.m.
“It will be nice to see teams from that side of the region before heading into conference play,” Keister said.
Northwest returns next weekend to open up Region IX play on Friday and Saturday against Eastern Wyoming and Laramie County Community College.