TRAPPER VOLLEYBALL FALLS ON THE ROAD

BY SETH ROMSA TRIBUNE SPORTS WRITER
Courtesy of the Powell Tribune

Two more road contests led to another difficult weekend for the Northwest College volleyball team, as the Trappers fell to Laramie County Community College 3-0 on Friday before losing to Eastern Wyoming College 3-1 on Saturday.    

LCCC 3, NORTHWEST 0
Starting the weekend against the Golden Eagles (16-11 overall, 8-2 Region IX North) the Trappers (9-14 overall, 1-9 Region IX North) were hoping to get a win against a difficult opponent to help spring some late season momentum.
Northwest battled through the first set of points, trailing 6-5 before the Golden Eagles expanded their lead to 10-6 and forced a timeout by the Trappers.
That run continued out of the timeout until it was 15-6, before the Trappers found some points midway through.
LCCC did not let up, pushing forward for the 25-13 first set win.
The Golden Eagles started the second set stronger, making it 12-6 before forcing a Northwest timeout.
The lead grew to double digits, and the Golden Eagles didn't look back in a 25-11 second set win.
"It just felt like in those first two sets we weren't even giving ourselves a chance to fight for points," coach Nicole Buck said. "We missed serves at really inopportune times."
In the third set the Trappers remained within striking distance for a longer stretch of play, trailing 11-10 midway through.
LCCC pulled ahead before Northwest rallied to tie it at 17, as the two teams went back and forth to end the set.
It remained tied several times until it was tied at 23 each, before LCCC won the final two points to take the match 25-23 via the sweep.
"Honestly they (LCCC) played really well. They executed really well and we just didn't," Buck said. "One of the things that was different in those first two sets from the third set was our serving. I felt like the kids served so much better in the third set."
Brakkin Larsen led with seven kills, Aidann Mottishaw led with 14 assists, Shilah Arnold had 10 digs and two aces while Ellianna Baumstarck had 1.5 blocks.    

EASTERN WYOMING 3, NORTHWEST 1
Continuing to Torrington the Trappers took on the Lancers (11-24 overall, 5-5 Region IX North).
Northwest came out strong, hitting .245 as a team in the opening set and taking it 25-17 to take a 1-0 lead.
"It was a really good, strong start. We've talked all season about 'how do we start stronger?' Because we've had this horrible habit of waiting until set two or three to suddenly play well," Buck said. 
That strong hitting did not follow into the second, as the Trappers committed as many errors as kills and fell 25-18 as the match was tied 1-1.
Again poor hitting followed in the third, as a negative .065 hitting set saw the Trappers fall 25-14 to trail 2-1 in the match.
Northwest hit better in the fourth but ultimately came up short in a 25-18 loss and fell 3-1 overall in the match.
McKinlee Scammon had 10 kills, Mottishaw and Rylee Arnold had 14 assists each, Shilah Arnold had 14 digs and Lexie Arnold had 10, Baumstarck had three blocks, one solo, while the Trapper serving was led by Mottishaw with five aces followed closely by Lexie Arnold with four. 

FINAL MATCHES
The Trappers went on the road Wednesday night and played the Central Wyoming College Rustlers (13-16 overall, 7-3 Region IX North) — that result was determined after the press deadline.
Northwest has already been eliminated from postseason contention, as only the top four teams from the north and south regions advance to the Region IX Tournament at Western Nebraska Community College.
The Trappers are hoping to end their season on a high on Friday, welcoming in the one opponent they've defeated in Region IX play in the Western Wyoming Community College Mustangs (2-26 overall, 0-10 Region IX North).
"We're really looking for the win obviously. But, more than anything, these sophomores have worked so hard at just trying to build a good foundation," Buck said. "That's been our whole theme this year is building a good foundation. I feel like they've worked really hard at that. I want to do everything we can to just give them one last really great experience on this court because they didn't have the opportunity in terms of wins and losses like they might have hoped, but their impact on this program is going to stay around for a long time."      

LCCC 3, NORTHWEST 0
(25-13, 25-11, 25-23)
Total blocks then solo blocks in ()
Kills — Brakkin Larsen 7, Lexie Arnold 6, McKinlee Scammon 4, Ellianna Baumstarck 3, Aidann Mottishaw 3, Eva Murray 2, Shilah Arnold 1, Vinaya Vanderploeg 1, Rylee Arnold 1
Assists — Aidann Mottishaw 14, Rylee Arnold 8, Shilah Arnold 4
Digs — Shilah Arnold 10, McKinlee Scammon 7, Rylee Arnold 7, Aidann Mottishaw 5, Trinity Frank 2, Lexie Arnold 2, Brakkin Larsen 1, Nevaeh Bell 1
Blocks — Ellianna Baumstarck 1.5, Brakkin Larsen 1, Lexie Arnold .5
Aces — Shilah Arnold 2, Lexie Arnold 1, Nevaeh Bell 1

EASTERN WYOMING 3, NORTHWEST 1
(17-25, 25-18, 25-14, 25-18)
Kills — McKinlee Scammon 10, Aidann Mottishaw 6, Brakkin Larsen 6, Lexie Arnold 5, Ellianna Baumstarck 3, Eva Murray 2, Shilah Arnold 1, Vinaya Vanderploeg 1, Natalee Hayder 1, Rylee Arnold 1
Assists — Aidann Mottishaw 14, Rylee Arnold 14, Shilah Arnold 3, McKinlee Scammon 2, Lexie Arnold 1
Digs — Shilah Arnold 14, Lexie Arnold 10, McKinlee Scammon 8, Rylee Arnold 7, Eva Murray 2, Brakkin Larsen 2, Nevaeh Bell 1
Blocks — Ellianna Baumstarck 3 (1), Eva Murray 2, Brakkin Larsen 2, Aidann Mottishaw 1.5, McKinlee Scammon .5
Aces — Aidann Mottishaw 5, Lexie Arnold 4, Eva Murray 2, Shilah Arnold 1, McKinlee Scammon 1