NORTHWEST VOLLEYBALL FALLS AT HOME

BY SETH ROMSA TRIBUNE SPORTS WRITER
Courtesy of the Powell Tribune

Needing wins to kickstart the second half of the conference season, the Northwest College volleyball team hosted a pair of difficult opponents, as the Trappers were swept by visiting Casper College and Gillette College.

CASPER COLLEGE 3, NORTHWEST 0
(25-15, 25-14, 25-23)
Starting the second half of conference action the Trappers (9-12 overall, 1-7 Region IX North) welcomed in the NJCAA No. 15 ranked Thunderbirds (20-7 overall, 8-0 Region IX North).
Early on Northwest held its own, matching the visitors point for point as the two were tied at 11.
The Trappers briefly took the lead, until the Thunderbirds started a run to take the set.
Four straight points by the visitors made it 18-15, and five more made it 23-15 and forced another Northwest timeout.
The visitors completed an 11-0 run, winning the first set 25-15.
A similar scenario followed in the second set, as the Trappers and Thunderbirds were tied at 10.
The Thunderbirds took control of the set with a 7-1 stretch.
Northwest added a few points late, but the visitors again pushed ahead and earned a 25-14 victory.
Needing to take a set, the Trappers came out strong in the third, leading 10-5 and forcing a Thunderbirds timeout.
That lead built to six for the Trappers, before Casper rallied to cut the lead to 12-11 and forced a Trapper timeout.
Northwest held off the visiting rally, and rebuilt its advantage to take a 19-14 lead after a Brakkin Larsen kill — forcing another Casper timeout.
Casper rallied, cutting the lead to 21-19 after a hit out by the Trappers and forcing a timeout by the hosts.
Northwest got two straight to make it 23-19, before Casper rallied to tie the match at 23 and eventually pulled ahead to complete the sweep with a 25-23 win.
"The first two (sets) were a little bit frustrating just knowing that we could have done a little bit better. But then I think we proved that to ourselves in the third set and I was really proud of the way the girls competed in that third set," coach Nicole Buck said. "I really believed we were going to take it, but in the end they just put a lot of pressure on us and we just didn't have a response for it."
Taylee Carlson was the lone Trapper in double figure kills with 11, Rylee Arnold led with 14 assists just ahead of Aidann Mottishaw with 13.
Shilah Arnold led with 12 digs, Ellianna Baumstarck had four blocks, three solo, while Shilah Arnold and Mottishaw each had two aces.
"The feeling when we went into the locker room, there was a consensus that we played well together in that third set especially. The girls were really proud of that and just wanted to build upon those feelings of just playing together, working hard through everything, regardless of what's across the other side of the net," Buck said. "So I was just proud of that."

GILLETTE COLLEGE 3, NORTHWEST 0
(25-17, 25-10, 25-19)
Continuing with action on Saturday against the Pronghorns (17-6 overall, 3-5 Region IX North) the Trappers were hoping to avoid the weekend sweep at home.
Gillette came out strong, building a 10-5 lead and forcing a Northwest timeout, before extending the lead to 17-10 and forcing another Trapper timeout.
"That (Saturday) was one of those really tough life lessons that we had to learn as a team, just how to capitalize on opportunities sooner, instead of just waiting for things to happen for us," Buck said.
Northwest did not have an answer, scoring points late in a 25-17 set loss.
The second set was similar, as the Trappers had no answer for the Pronghorns at the net, trailing 13-6 and calling a timeout. 
A hit into the net by Northwest made it 16-6 for the visitors, and the Pronghorns cruised to a 25-10 second set win.
Northwest trailed again early in the third, but kept it close and forced a timeout from the visitors trailing 10-6.
The Trappers took a timeout trailing 18-10, and again scored points late to close the final scoreline in a 25-19 loss.
"Even though there was such a good feeling at the end of Friday night, and we talked about building on that the next day, I think the girls showed up the next day and we just had a little bit of a mentality of like it will just happen, instead of doing whatever it takes to make it happen," Buck said. "Obviously that's a painful lesson to learn, but it's a very necessary lesson for the kids and me, all of us to learn together that you can't just expect things, especially when you're the underdog. You have to go out and create opportunities for yourself because a good team isn't going to give them to you."
No Trappers reached double digit kills as McKinlee Scammon led with five, Mottishaw led with eight assists, Shilah Arnold had 12 digs and Scammon added 10, Baumstarck led with three solo blocks and Rylee Arnold had two aces.

BUSY WEEK STARTS
Northwest now heads into the final stretch of the season with four matches in seven days, starting with a trip to southeast Wyoming.
The Trappers take on Laramie County Community College (15-10 overall, 7-1 Region IX North) at 6 p.m. on Friday before taking on Eastern Wyoming College (10-22 overall, 4-4 Region IX North) at 2 p.m. Saturday.
"I expect LCCC to be very prepared for us because we did frustrate them a lot when they were here. We took a set off of them and I thought we played overall really well against a very good team," Buck said. "Eastern, they're just big. They've kind of been up and down in certain situations too … We just have to show up ready to create opportunities for ourselves and figure out a way to work around a team that is bigger than us, but I believe that we can break them down a lot better than we did last time."
Northwest then heads to Riverton on Wednesday at 6 p.m. to take on Central Wyoming College (11-16 overall, 5-3 Region IX North) before returning home on Halloween to end the season against Western Wyoming.
"Against Central I really just want to see us run a little better offense," Buck said. "I believe that if we do that with Eastern and with Central we can compete a lot better. But that's going to start with our passing, which has been one of our biggest struggles lately."

CASPER COLLEGE 3, NORTHWEST 0
(25-15, 25-14, 25-23)
Total blocks then solo blocks in ()
Kills — Taylee Carlson 11, Ellianna Baumstarck 6, Lexie Arnold 5, Brakkin Larsen 5, McKinlee Scammon 2, Natalee Hayder 1
Assists — Rylee Arnold 14, Aidann Mottishaw 13, Shilah Arnold 2
Digs — Shilah Arnold 12, McKinlee Scammon 5, Aidann Mottishaw 5, Lexie Arnold 4, Taylee Carlson 4, Nevaeh Bell 1
Blocks — Ellianna Baumstarck 4 (3), Brakkin Larsen 2 (1), Eva Murray .5, Taylee Carlson .5
Aces — Shilah Arnold 2, Aidann Mottishaw 2, Lexie Arnold 1, Eva Murray 1     

GILLETTE COLLEGE 3, NORTHWEST 0
(25-17, 25-10, 25-19)
Kills — McKinlee Scammon 5, Lexie Arnold 4, Taylee Carlson 4, Rylee Arnold 2, Shilah Arnold 1, Eva Murray 1, Ellianna Baumstarck 1, Aidann Mottishaw 1, Brakkin Larsen 1
Assists — Aidann Mottishaw 8, Rylee Arnold 7, Shilah Arnold 1
Digs — Shilah Arnold 12, McKinlee Scammon 10, Aidann Mottishaw 7, Lexie Arnold 5, Rylee Arnold 3, Ellianna Baumstarck 1, Natalee Hayder 1, Brakkin Larsen 1
Blocks — Ellianna Baumstarck 3 (3), Eva Murray 2.5 (2)
Aces — Rylee Arnold 2, Lexie Arnold 1