TRAPPER VOLLEYBALL STARTS UNDEFEATED

BY SETH ROMSA TRIBUNE SPORTS WRITER
Courtesy of the Powell Tribune

The Northwest College volleyball team started the season strong after a Gillette tournament, beating Dakota College at Bottineau 3-0, Miles Community College 3-2, Dawson Community College 3-0 and Williston State College 3-1.

The Trappers (4-0) started the year with a sweep of the Lumberjacks (0-8), cruising after a 25-21 first set with wins of 25-10 and 25-13.

Following that win, the Trappers took on the Pioneers (4-3), a team that Northwest took on in a preseason scrimmage the week prior.

Northwest took the first two sets 25-19 and 25-22, before losing the third and fourth sets via a 25-22 scoreline.

The Trappers found a way to win the fifth set 15-7 and avoid the reverse sweep, one of the big victories on the weekend, said coach Nicole Buck.

"I told them I really wish we would have won in three, I think we could have and probably should have done it, but in the end, I was really grateful for that challenge after they had kind of taken those two from us," Buck said. "It showed the girls how to be a little bit resilient, how to learn how to dig deep. In the end, I think we learned more in those two sets than we would have had we taken it in three. And those are the kinds of lessons that I really want them to learn early. I forget that they're so young sometimes, and so I like that they're being challenged."

On Saturday, the Trappers dominated Dawson Community College in a sweep 25-19, 25-12 and 25-16, allowing a number of players to get in and Buck to see additional rotations and their potential should Northwest need to turn to them later in the year.

"I thought the kids started to get more comfortable in their roles, but it was also encouraging," Buck said. "There were a few times where I was still able to kind of make some substitutions and experiment with different things. It was encouraging to know we had a lot of great options to work with."

Ending the weekend with Williston State, the Trappers won in four sets, winning the first set 25-17 but losing the second set 25-21.

Northwest bounced back with set wins of 25-15 and 25-21 to end the weekend 4-0.

Throughout the weekend, Buck said they continued to experiment with the offense to see what works best for the team.

"I started with it (the 5-1) in the first match, but after that first set it became clear that was going to be a match that I had some flexibility to experiment with, and I promised that I would if given the opportunity," Buck said. "In the second set I threw in the 6-2, and it just worked really well. It was really fun to see Aidann (Mottishaw) hit. She's obviously a fantastic setter, but she's a very powerful hitter and I felt like she brought a lot of energy with that."     

CHEYENNE TOURNAMENT
Northwest now heads southeast, going to Cheyenne to take part in a Region IX Crossover Tournament hosted by Laramie County Community College.

The Trappers take on four Region IX South teams, starting with North Platte Community College (1-6) at 11 a.m. on Friday, before also taking on Trinidad State College (3-4) at 3 p.m.

Northwest then matches up with Southeast CC (3-6) at 8 a.m. on Saturday before ending with a match against Western Nebraska (0-9) at noon.

"I do expect better competition [in Cheyenne]," Buck said. "I expect that they'll take the challenge head on and learn from it, and learn how to compete with some of the best in the league."

Northwest also travels to Montana on Tuesday night to take on the Pioneers once again.