Your future, our focus
Sweep Of Sheridan Cinches Regular Season Title
The No. 20 Northwest College volleyball team swept past Sheridan on Wednesday night 25-21, 25-22, 25-9 to lock in the No. 1 seed at this week’s Region IX North tournament. The win also wrapped up a 19-11 regular season record for NWC and gave the college the regular-season regional title.
“I’m proud and happy to have come so far,” said Trapper sophomore Olivia Rogers, one of a handful of second-year NWC players honored prior to the contest. “I’m part of something awesome here and I’m loving every minute of it.”
Wednesday was a whirlwind day for the Trappers. The team had already planned to honor its sophomores prior to the contest, then learned that morning that they had earned a spot in the latest NJCAA volleyball rankings. Toss in the typical rivalry angst that comes with an NWC-Sheridan matchup and the heavy weight of a No. 1 regional tourney seed riding on the line and emotions were high. Possibly too high.
“We were too amped at the start of the game,” said Trapper head coach Shaun Pohlman. “All day it was like ‘oh my god, oh my god, it’s sophomore night,’ and then it was ‘oh my god, oh my god, we’re No. 20.’ Add in the whole No. 1 seed thing and they were flying at a level I didn’t even know we had today. It just took us a while to come down from that and play.”
That moment came during Pohlman’s first timeout. With the Trappers trailing 14-8 in the first set, he gathered his team together and asked a simple question. “I just looked at them and asked if we were ready now,” Pohlman said.
They were. Northwest scored seven of the next eight points to draw level at 15-15. A series of three kills by Felicity Zegarelli lifted the Trappers to a 23-19 lead a short while later and Northwest secured game one on a Becky Downs kill.
Northwest’s momentum continued as Ana Jakovljevic served six consecutive points to put Northwest up 9-4 early in game two. Sheridan fought back to within 12-10, but Jakovljevic hammered three straight kills across the net to help the Trappers surge back ahead by five.
Northwest stretched that lead out to seven points before the Generals fought back to within 21-18. This time it was Zegarelli with the answer as she delivered back-to-back kill shots, then joined forces with Downs to deliver the Trappers’ final two points to take a two-game lead on the night.
After intermission, it was all Trappers. Jakovljevic sucked the life out of Sheridan with another six-point serving run that included back-to-back aces as the freshman’s powerful jump serve left the Generals reeling. Even after Sheridan was able to knock Jakovljevic off serve, Northwest had the answer.
Sophomore Taylor Harris scored back-to-back kills to immediately grab the momentum back for NWC. Zegarelli followed with a run of four kills over the span of five points and Triniti Taylor added a stuff at the net to lift NWC to an 18-5 lead. Nicoleta Titonea delivered the game-winning kill a short while later for the Trappers.
Zegarelli finished with 18 kills in the game. Jakovljevic added 14 kills, six ace serves and 11 digs for a strong all-around contest. Downs had seven block assists as the Trappers enjoyed a strong night at the net.
The victory completes a transformation this season for Northwest College. The Trappers began the year dropping their first five games and had Pohlman scratching his head.
“There were a lot of pivotal talks in there,” he said of the early season. “We finally came up with a list of things we believe in and things we live for and that became our motto, our creed, our credo, whatever you want to call it.”
The moment of transformation came in early September. The Trappers journeyed to Rock Springs to face then-No. 10 Western Wyoming. In a hostile environment, the team won in four games. That was also the comingout party for Jakovljevic, who hammered 22 kills in that contest.
Three nights later, she’d pound out 24 in a home win over Casper College that helped fuel her path to the first of two national player of the week honors this season.
“Our whole mentality has changed,” said Downs, recalling the early days of the season. “We found our love and our passion for the game. We developed a good bond of trust as a team and that’s just helped us day in and day out.”
Now, that level of teamwork will get tested anew as the Trappers prepare for the postseason. Northwest hosts the Region IX North tournament, which starts Oct. 31. The eventual tournament champion earns a place in the national tournament.
Northwest College opens Region IX play on Thursday at noon against either Casper College or Eastern Wyoming. A victory in that contest will advance the Trappers to a 2 p.m. Friday game.