NWC VOLLEYBALL 2-2 AT HOME TOURNEY

BY SETH ROMSA TRIBUNE SPORTS WRITER
Courtesy of the Powell Tribune

Northwest College finished 2-2 at the Trapper Invitational last weekend, playing its last home matches for a month, as libero Ellie Thomas broke her own school record for digs in a Friday match.   

NORTHWEST 3, DAWSON CC 1
The action started with a familiar opponent for the Trappers (5-4), matching up with Dawson Community College (4-6) for the second time in the early season.

Dawson came out early and took the lead, before a run by Northwest made it 9-4 and forced a timeout from the visitors.

That momentum built and allowed Northwest to claim a double digit lead — before a late run cut it down to 22-16 and forced a Trapper timeout.

Northwest finished out the final three points and earned a 25-16 first set victory.

The second set saw the Trappers up 11-7, before an injury to Brooke Larsen at the net brought play to a halt.

Northwest regrouped after the injury, and a strong string of service play from Thomas pushed the lead out significantly — allowing the Trappers to win the set 25-10.

What went well in the second set did not carry over into the third, with Dawson building a lead early and maintaining it throughout.

"That's been the mantra of our season, set three we aren't very good," coach Scott Keister said. "I don't know what it is, if they lose focus. Every time it's happened we've been up 2-0, it doesn't happen when it's 1-1. It's a mental part of the game for sure to kind of keep that edge and not back off."

Dawson took the third set 25-11 to force an extra fourth set.

The Trappers held an early lead in the fourth, and pushed it out to 14-8 before forcing a timeout.

Northwest finished the match with a 25-17 win and swept the season series with Dawson.

Tilli Danczyk and Taylor Wilson led the team with nine kills each, Kamri Hutchings led with 35 assists and three aces while Thomas led the way with 25 digs.    

CARROLL COLLEGE JV 3, NORTHWEST 2
Northwest matched up with the Carroll College JV for a difficult five-set match on Friday afternoon.

The first set had both teams battling back and forth, before a small push late gave Carroll the lead for good — claiming a 25-20 victory.

Northwest responded in the second, building a lead immediately and never looking back en route to a 25-19 victory.

The momentum carried into the third set, with the Trappers building an early lead once again in a 25-16 third set win.

An early lead in the fourth set wasn't held, with Carroll pushing ahead in the middle of the set to take it 25-18 and force a decisive fifth set.

The Trappers came out strong in the fifth up 5-2, then found themselves down 8-7 and continued to trail late.

Trailing 13-11, Northwest earned three of the next four points and tied the match at 14.

Both teams earned opportunities to win the match late, but continued to match each other point for point until Carroll ultimately won the match 18-16 in the final set.

"Carroll is a good team and I am glad we get to go to their place and play them two more times," Keister said. "I'm always about good competition and making us better."

Thomas led the way with 39 digs — breaking her own school record of 34 that she set last season in a five set match against the Rocky Mountain JV in Billings on Oct. 4, 2022.

For her efforts, Thomas was named the Region IX North Defensive Player of the Week.

As of Wednesday, Thomas currently leads the nation in digs with 200, and averages 5.88 digs a set through nine matches.

Hutchings led Northwest with 57 assists and four aces — while Taylor Wilson recorded a team-high 15 kills in the match.   

ROCKY MOUNTAIN JV 3, NORTHWEST 0
After the close loss Friday the Trappers went into a pair of matches Saturday, beginning with the Rocky Mountain JV.

Northwest fell behind by two sets after the visitors won 25-16 and 25-14 to start the match.

The Trappers did not go down without a fight in the third, but ultimately came up short in a 26-24 final set.

"Since I've been here that's the first time we have lost to Rocky," Keister said.

Thomas finished with 23 digs, Hutchings led with 31 assists and Sierra Kilts led with eight kills. 

NORTHWEST 3, WYOMING ALL-STARS 0
After the loss, Northwest turned around and matched up with the Wyoming All-Stars alumni team to wrap up the home invitational Saturday evening.

The Trappers took the lead through a 25-11 first set victory — hitting .360 as a team.

Northwest continued that momentum and finished the match quickly, winning 25-20 in the second and 25-15 in the third to take the sweep.

"By the time we saw the alumni they were awake and moving and back playing like they should," Keister said.

Elsa Clark and Kennedy Oman led with seven kills each, Hutchings and Kamryn Jenkins split setting duties finishing with 21 and 16 assists respectively while Thomas finished on top with 26 digs.    

LONG ROAD TRIP BEGINS
Those four matches were the Trappers only home action for the next month, as they play the next 11 matches on the road before returning to Powell on Sept. 29.

That will start with a difficult invitational this weekend in Price, Utah, taking part in the Utah State University Eastern Invitational on Friday and Saturday.

Northwest will play the College of Southern Nevada (0-4) at 10 a.m. on Friday before taking on Arizona-based Pima Community College (2-4) at 4 p.m.

"Southern Nevada is typically at the bottom of their region, but their region is a powerhouse," Keister said. "I was at Salt Lake when they started that program and they have gotten better every year."

A quick turnaround on Saturday will have Northwest matching up with its first ranked opponent of the season in No. 13-ranked Eastern Arizona College (7-4) at 8 a.m. before taking on host and No. 16-ranked USU Eastern (4-4) at 2 p.m.

"These first couple weeks have been about us, we haven't done much scouting our opponent. We are close to a lineup that we are going to play a significant amount this weekend," Keister said.

Northwest will head into Montana next week on Wednesday and Thursday, taking on the University of Providence JV in a doubleheader on Wednesday and the Carroll College JV on Thursday in a doubleheader.

NORTHWEST 3, DAWSON CC 1
Total blocks then solo blocks in ()
Kills — Tilli Danczyk 9, Taylor Wilson 9, Kennedy Oman 8, Sierra Kilts 7, Elsa Clark 3, Kamri Hutchings 2, Burkelle Field 2, Alexis Grgich 1
Assists — Kamri Hutchings 35, Ellie Thomas 3, Sierra Kilts 2, Kamryn Jenkins 1
Digs — Ellie Thomas 25, Sierra Kilts 12, Kamri Hutchings 10, Burkelle Field 8, Kennedy Oman 5, Taylor Wilson 4, Elsa Clark 2, DanniKa Barfuss 1, Alexis Grgich 1
Blocks — Tilli Danczyk 2.5 (1), Kamri Hutchings 1.5, Elsa Clark 1 (1), Kennedy Oman 1, Taylor Wilson 1 (1), Burkelle Field .5, Sierra Kilts .5
Aces — Kamri Hutchings 3, Ellie Thomas 2, Kennedy Oman 2, Taylor Wilson 2, Sierra Kilts 1   

CARROLL COLLEGE JV 3, NORTHWEST 2
Kills — Taylor Wilson 15, Tilli Danczyk 9, Sierra Kilts 8, Kennedy Oman 8, Burkelle Field 7, Jordynel Anderson 7, Kamri Hutchings 3, Elsa Clark 2, Ellie Thomas 1, Mikey Pilila'au 1
Assists — Kamri Hutchings 57, Burkelle Field 4
Digs — Ellie Thomas 39, Burkelle Field 16, Taylor Wilson 11, Sierra Kilts 7, Kamryn Jenkins 7, Kennedy Oman 4, Elsa Clark 3, Mikey Pilila'au 1
Blocks — Tilli Danczyk 2, Jordynel Anderson 2 (1), Taylor Wilson 2 (1), Kamri Hutchings 1, Elsa Clark 1 (1), Burkelle Field .5, Kennedy Oman .5
Aces — Kamri Hutchings 4, Ellie Thomas 3, Burkelle Field 2, Taylor Wilson 2, Elsa Clark 1, Kennedy Oman 1 

ROCKY MOUNTAIN JV 3, NORTHWEST 0
Kills — Sierra Kilts 8, Kennedy Oman 7, Burkelle Field 5, Elsa Clark 5, Taylor Wilson 4, Kamri Hutchings 3, Tilli Danczyk 3, Mikey Pilila'au 1, Jordynel Anderson 1
Assists — Kamri Hutchings 31, Kamryn Jenkins 2, Ellie Thomas 1, Burkelle Field 1, Sierra Kilts 1, Kennedy Oman 1
Digs — Ellie Thomas 23, Burkelle Field 10, Sierra Kilts 9, Elsa Clark 6, Trinity Frank 2, Taylor Wilson 2, Kamri Hutchings 1, Tilli Danczyk 1, Jordynel Anderson 1
Blocks — Tilli Danczyk 2 (2), Kennedy Oman 1.5 (1), Kamri Hutchings .5, Burkelle Field .5, Jordynel Anderson .5
Aces — Ellie Thomas 1, Kennedy Oman 1, Taylor Wilson 1   

NORTHWEST 3, WYOMING ALL-STARS 0
Kills — Elsa Clark 7, Kennedy Oman 7, Taylor Wilson 6, Burkelle Field 5, Mikey Pilila'au 4, Sierra Kilts 3, Jordynel Anderson 2, Kamri Hutchings 1, DanniKa Barfuss 1, Alexis Grgich 1, Tili Danczyk 1, Kamryn Jenkins 1
Assists — Kamri Hutchings 21, Kamryn Jenkins 16, Ellie Thomas 2
Digs — Ellie Thomas 26, Kamryn Jenkins 6, Burkelle Field 3, DanniKa Barfuss 3, Elsa Clark 2, Sierra Kilts 2, Kennedy Oman 2, Kamri Hutchings 1, Trinity Frank 1, Taylor Wilson 1
Blocks — Kennedy Oman 1.5, Taylor Wilson 1.5 (1), Sierra Kilts 1, Kamri Hutchings .5, Elsa Clark .5, Tilly Danczyk .5, Mikey Pilila'au .5
Aces — Trinity Frank 2, Burkelle Field 2, Elsa Clark 2, Kamri Hutchings 1, Ellie Thomas 1, Jordynel Anderson 1