Trappers represent Wyoming in Casper for third straight year

The Northwest College Trappers earned a trip to the National Tournament last weekend with a win in the Region IX North Tournament.

The Trappers, who had earned a first-round bye by going undefeated in conference play, stopped Laramie County Community College in the second round, and defeated Western Wyoming Community College in the semi-finals. Western won a second chance at the Trappers in the true double-elimination tournament on Saturday and Northwest sealed their championship with another win over the Mustangs.

Although the Trappers didn’t lose a set in the three matches, Trapper head coach Shaun Pohlman said the wins weren’t as easy as it might appear.

That was evident in NWC’s opening game, when Laramie County made a determined effort in the first set. The Golden Eagles, who were coming off a sweep of Sheridan College in the first round, battled the Trappers to a 24-24 tie, forcing them into playing an extra point to win the set 26-24.

The Trappers took a bigger lead in the second set, winning it 25-19, and they dominated LCCC in the third set, winning 25-14.

Western Wyoming came up against the Trappers on Friday after winning a tough five-set match over Casper College on Thursday. The Mustangs challenged the Trappers in the first set before NWC pulled away to a 25-18 win. In the second set, the Trappers rolled to an easier, 25-12, win, but the Mustangs came back stronger in the third set before falling to the Trappers 25-19.

After losing to Northwest, Laramie County came back to defeat Eastern Wyoming in four closely contested sets. The Golden Eagles followed that with another tough win over Sheridan College. The two wins earned the Golden Eagles a matchup with Western Wyoming in a loser-out contest at noon on Saturday. Western won the first two sets 28-26, 25-18, but Laramie County came back to win the next two sets by identical 25-20 scores. Western recovered from the two losses to win the fifth and deciding set 15-11, and earned a second shot at Northwest.

Despite having just finished their match with LCCC, the Mustangs battled Northwest into extra points before the Trappers finally eked out a 28-26 win. The Trappers found the going a little easier in set two, and won it 25-19, but Western continued to battle until the Trappers finished the match with a 25-21 victory.

Pohlman praised both the LCCC and WWCC teams for their play during the tournament.

“Laramie County put everything they had into an effort to beat Western Wyoming,” Pohlman said. “Western Wyoming had played five sets just before they played us, and showed just as much heart against us.

“I have tremendous respect for the Western Players,” Pohlman said.

Pohlman said the Trappers’ play was “a pleasant surprise,” because he wasn’t sure how his team would react.

“Going into the weekend and each day during the weekend, I didn’t know what to expect from them,” Pohlman said.

Pohlman said he had reminded the young women of the need to commit themselves to volleyball, but also their need to keep their commitment to their academic performance.

“But there’s that thing called ‘free will’ and I was not sure if their 18-year-old, young-adult minds would follow through on those commitments,” Pohlman said. “They did follow through, and I couldn’t be prouder of them.

“The thing I’m really proud of is that we got the sportsmanship award for the tournament,” Pohlman said. “That award usually doesn’t go to the winner of the tournament, and it shows we can win by being good winners. That says a lot about these young ladies.”

Pohlman said seeding and pairing for the National Tournament would not be available until later in the week, and he offered no comment on the Trappers’ chances in the tournament.

“All I can say is that some teams have had a crazy time qualifying for it,” he said.

As an example, he said fourth-ranked Iowa Western had lost in the semi-finals of their region tournament, and played back to win the double-elimination affair. At one point, they had to save five set points to avoid elimination.

A number of awards were handed out during the tournament, and Northwest received its share.

Aleksandra Djordjevic was named the Region IX North Player of the Year, and she was joined on the All-Region IX North Team by sophomores Teodora Tepavac and Kaite Johnson, and freshman Lauga Gauta.

Djordjevic, Tepavac and Gauta were named to the Wyoming Community College Athletic Conference All-Conference first team, along with freshman Maliyah Tela, who was named to the second team.

Djordjevic, Tepavac and Gauta also were named to the All-Tournament team.

Although he didn’t mention it when interviewed for this article, Pohlman was selected the Region IX North Coach of the Year.