Your future, our focus
The Northwest College volleyball team has had a rough start to its season, but interim head coach Valerie Rivera isn’t letting her players lose their focus.
“Go out there and have hunger to play and things will continue to work out for us if we continue to do the little things right,” she said.
Rivera has been down this road before, having played in the JUCO and four-year school ranks. After serving as a graduate assistant at William Penn University in Iowa, Rivera came to Northwest in late May and quickly got to work meeting her team and learning the lay of the land.
“The community is so invested and everybody knows everybody, Rivera said. “It’s like being all over again in Iowa, in a small town. Now being in Wyoming, the difference being at least it’s pretty to look at outside when there’s mountains.”
After losing their first six games of the year the Trappers have now won two of their last five.
“The team at first was playing really timid and really scared,” Rivera said, “and now they kind of bought into our system and bought into everything we’re trying to get to as a team, and trusting each other enough where we’re competing with these big teams.
After losing 3-0 to Miles Community College on Aug. 28, Northwest got a rematch in Powell the next week. The game went much different, with each squad matching each other set for set. NWC never gave in and ended up taking the fifth and final set 16-14.
Now her young team, only sporting four sophomores on the roster, is starting to embrace its underdog role.
“You can compete with any team at any level because guess what? They don’t expect much from you,” Rivera said. “Isn’t that just the best part? That you can surprise someone by them coming in and thinking it’s going to be a walk in the park.”
And although the Lady Trappers’ 2-9 record isn’t exactly glamorous, there are still a few bright spots to be had on the team.
Outside hitter Eirini Matsouka currently leads the nation in kills per set with 4.83 and is second in the Region IX north division with 4.33 digs per set. Kaylie Critchfield, a freshman from Evanston, is second in the Region IX north division in assists per set with 8.75. Recent Cody High School grad Ryan Blaylock leads the conference and is 19th in the country in service aces per set with 0.63.
But Rivera understands that her players can contribute in many ways besides racking up eye-catching stats and wants to do what she can to funnel her players to the next level, a jump she understands from the perspective of coach and player.
“If you want to play somewhere I’ll get you somewhere, it’s just a matter of what you are going to do to contribute to that,” Rivera said. “Are you going to be a great student athlete? Are you going to be a great leader? Are you going to be a contributor on the court with your stats? “
After taking a break last weekend, the Trappers swing back into action at a Central Wyoming tournament in Riverton this weekend. They will play Snow College on Friday and then face off against fellow Region IX foe CWC on Saturday. The Trappers will return home Tuesday with a 7 p.m. game against the Rocky Mountain College JV team.