TRAPPER VOLLEYBALL FALLS FLAT AT HOME

The Northwest College volleyball team fell flat against its competition on Friday and Saturday, getting swept by both Casper College and Western Wyoming at Cabre Gym.    

CASPER COLLEGE 3, NORTHWEST 0
(25-19, 25-19, 25-14)

Kicking off the back half of the conference season, the Trappers (9-18 overall, 2-6 Region IX North) were looking to improve their performance from the last time they played the Thunderbirds (21-10 overall, 7-1 Region IX North).

Northwest did just that early, fighting for each point with Casper College and keeping the match tied at 11 midway through the set.

A small push by Casper gave the visitors a two-point advantage, forcing a timeout by Northwest with the score at 18-16.

The lead grew after three more points and forced a second timeout from the Trappers.

Northwest then made a small push to 21-19 and forced a Casper timeout before the Thunderbirds finished the first set with four straight points to take a 1-0 lead.

Casper held an early lead throughout the second set, with Northwest attempting to keep the match close to not allow the visitors to break away.

A timeout from Northwest came when the Thunderbirds gained a 17-14 lead, before the Trappers rallied to a 20-17 score and forced a Casper timeout.

A long rally followed the break, causing Northwest to need a timeout down 21-17 before the Thunderbirds pushed ahead for good with a 25-19 set win.

"I thought we played well against Casper until the third set," coach Scott Keister said.

In the third set the Trappers came out slower, but rallied to keep the score tight down 11-8.

Casper pushed the lead out to six at 17-11, forcing another Northwest timeout.

The Thunderbirds were able to finish the match with a 25-14 win.

"That was the first time all year I have seen (the Trappers) deflated," Keister said. "For the most part I thought we played them pretty well. Then we played poorly — we played with no passion, no heart."

Ellie Thomas led Northwest with 15 digs, while Kamri Hutchings led with 12 assists and was tied for the team lead in blocks (1.5) and aces (2).    

WESTERN WYOMING 3, NORTHWEST 0
(25-18, 25-15, 25-11)

After falling flat in the third set Friday the Trappers attempted to turn the tide against the Mustangs (16-12 overall, 4-4 Region IX North) on pink day in Cabre Gym.

Bad news came out prior to the game as Thomas was injured in warmups earlier in the day, leading to the Trappers turning to a new libero in the match.

"You hate to say that one player is the glue of your team … but she's a big key," Keister said. "I don't think it (the loss) was (because of) Ellie's injury by any means, it was just one of those days."

Northwest came out slow in the first set, trailing throughout before needing a timeout down 18-12.

Western Wyoming finished the first set 25-18.

Another slow start in the second had Northwest using two timeouts, trailing throughout and down 16-9 after the second timeout.

Northwest had a small rally to trail 18-14 and force a Western timeout.

Western responded to the rally by scoring seven of the next eight points and winning the set 25-15.

An even slower start followed, with Northwest trailing 9-0 before scoring a point.

Western continued to pour it on, with the Trappers calling timeouts trailing 12-3 and 18-5 while continuing to have a high error output.

Northwest was able to score some points late, but ultimately fell 25-11 in the sweep.

"We've been talking about getting better every day and we were doing that until this weekend," Keister said.

He said that ultimately the Mustangs and Thunderbirds were the better teams, but the high error output from the Trappers gave the teams the win rather than the two visitors needing to work to defeat Northwest.

"This is going to sound like a knock on other teams because we have played good teams, but nobody has beaten us, we have beaten ourselves. In our three matches this week (Rocky Mountain JV, Casper and Western) we gave our opponents 80% of their points," Keister said. "Casper and Western are better teams than us for sure but we didn't make them beat us, we beat ourselves and that is the frustrating part."

Elsa Clark led with 11 digs in the match, Hutchings had 10 assists just ahead of Kamryn Jenkins with nine and Jordynel Anderson and Taylor Wilson tied for the team lead in kills with six.    

BUSY WEEK AHEAD
Things do not slow down for the Trappers as the season winds down to a close, starting with a trip to Cheyenne at 7 p.m. on Friday to take on No. 17-ranked Laramie County Community College (26-4 overall, 8-0 Region IX North).

Northwest will then keep the road trip going, heading north to Torrington to take on Eastern Wyoming (9-17 overall, 3-5 Region IX North) at 1 p.m. on Saturday.

"We have the skill but we have the mental mushrooms as I like to say and we need to strengthen them," Keister said. "It's all part of the process, every now and then you have a setback and this was ours — the true test is how we respond."

The week will finish off on Tuesday, returning home at 6 p.m. to take on Central Wyoming (6-18 overall, 4-4 Region IX).   

CASPER COLLEGE 3, NORTHWEST 0
(25-19, 25-19, 25-14)

Total blocks then solo blocks in ()
Kills — Taylor Wilson 5, Kamri Hutchings 4, Burkelle Field 4, Jordynel Anderson 4, Tilli Danczyk 3, Alexis Grgich 1, Kennedy Oman 1
Assists — Kamri Hutchings 12, Kamryn Jenkins 6, Taylor Wilson 2, Elsa Clark 1, Sierra Kilts 1
Digs — Ellie Thomas 15, Elsa Clark 8, Sierra Kilts 5, Kamri Hutchings 2, Jordynel Anderson 2, Kamryn Jenkins 2, Taylor Wilson 2, Burkelle Field 1, Alexis Grgich 1
Blocks — Kamri Hutchings 1.5 (1), Jordynel Anderson 1.5 (1), Taylor Wilson 1.5 (1), Burkelle Field .5, Tilli Danczyk .5, Kennedy Oman .5
Aces — Kamri Hutchings 2, Ellie Thomas 2, Jordynel Anderson 2, Burkelle Field 1, Elsa Clark 1   

WESTERN WYOMING 3, NORTHWEST 0
(25-18, 25-15, 25-11)

Kills — Jordynel Anderson 6, Taylor Wilson 6, Burkelle Field 3, Tilli Danczyk 3, Annika Bushman 1, Alexis Grgich 1, Kennedy Oman 1
Assists — Kamri Hutchings 10, Kamryn Jenkins 9, Sierra Kilts 2
Digs — Elsa Clark 11, Kamri Hutchings 7, Sierra Kilts 7, Taylor Wilson 4, DanniKa Barfuss 3, Burkelle Field 2, Annika Bushman 2, Jordynel Anderson 2, Kamryn Jenkins 2, Tilli Danczyk 1
Blocks — Kennedy Oman 1, Taylor Wilson 1 (1), Annika Bushman .5, Tilli Danczyk .5