NWC VOLLEYBALL BRINGS IN 10 FRESHMEN

BY SETH ROMSA TRIBUNE SPORTS WRITER
Courtesy of the Powell Tribune

A strong incoming freshman class of 10 players mixed with a smaller number of returning athletes will  take the court for the Trappers this fall.

"I would say all of them are incredible athletes," coach Nicole Buck said. "There's some varying development things that we're going to be working on, but all of them are incredibly hardworking and incredibly talented and are going to add value to this program in one way or another."

Three of those athletes will hail from the same family, as three sisters out of four quadruplets will make their way to Powell from McCall, Idaho.

Rylee, Lexie and Shilah Arnold all played their high school volleyball at McCall-Donnelly High School.

All three sisters were named All-Conference athletes this past season, with Lexie named second team All-State and Shilah earning honorable mention All-State honors in the 4A division.

"Their mom played for Northwest volleyball a while back," Buck said. "They are just a really fun, really fiery, feisty group of kids that we're excited to have in our program."

Lexie and Shilah play different positions including outside hitting and defensive specialist while Rylee is a setter.

Another out of state recruit joining the Trappers is Brakkin Larsen, a middle blocker from Elko High School in Elko, Nevada, who stands tall at 6 foot, 3 inches.

She is a second team All-State selection, with Buck excited to bring Larsen into the program.

"I'm really excited about her," Buck said. "You can't teach height, so I'm excited to just kind of get in there and work with some of the raw talent that she has. She's just a really good kid."

The final Trapper out-of-state recruit  comes from Three Forks High School in Montana, with Natalee Hayder.

Hayder is an outside hitter who competed in the District 5B division in Montana and was a second team All-State selection in 2023.

"Natalee came to help with camp, she was just as excited to come to campus as she was just to see some of the girls that were already here like Trinity (Frank) and Kenzie (Fields)," Buck said. "They seem to already be fitting together seamlessly and it seems to be going really well."

In Wyoming, Buck has recruited at every level, with one athlete coming from each classification to the Trappers.

From 4A, Buck adds another tall middle blocker, with 6 foot, 2-inch Eva Murray joining the Trappers from Green River.

She was a 4A West All-Conference selection after recording 174 kills, 17 solo blocks, 68 assisted blocks and 67 digs.

Two signings in 3A come from the 3A East, as Nevaeh Bell will head to Powell from Buffalo and Landree Meeks will head to Powell from Douglas.

Bell joins the Trappers as an outside hitter while Meeks played as a middle blocker.

From the 2A ranks the Trappers have one signing joining, as McKinlee Scammon joins the Trappers from Tongue River after being a two-time All-State selection and three year starter.

She had 355 kills, 268 digs and 42 aces last season as an outside hitter for a team that took second at the state tournament.

The final recruit comes from the 1A ranks, as Vinaya VanderPloeg will head to Powell from Riverside.

She was part of a state championship team in 2022 while being a two-time All-State selection in 2023 and 2024.

"It's exciting to have different parts of our state represented here, just because I want to continue to grow the sport of volleyball here in our state and I love Wyoming kids," Buck said. "They're hardworking, they're local and we're really excited to have them."

Buck said they will be hosting a camp for local youth July 28-29 to get the players involved with the community before the season kicks off in August.

"We want our athletes here to be building those relationships with local programs and kids so that hopefully we can get more people out to support the games," Buck said. "We hope that kids in the area will take advantage of the opportunity, because it's just really fun to be coached by a college athlete who has gone through everything that you are going through and are about to go through."

The camp will be available for campers of all ages all the way through high school. More information can be found on the Northwest College athletic website under the camps tab.