NWC tops LCCC, falls to Eastern

After waiting for nearly a month, the Northwest College volleyball team finally had an opportunity to play before a home crowd last weekend. The Trappers swept Laramie County Community College 3-0 on Friday, but saw a rally fall just short in a 3-2 loss to Eastern Wyoming.

The results left Northwest with a 6-8 record this season and kept the team at the .500 mark in Region IX North play with a 2-2 record.

With a raucous home crowd in attendance, the Trappers made relatively quick work of LCCC. After surviving a scare late in game one, Northwest cruised to a 27-25, 25-19, 25-23 victory.

Danielle Schaal led the way with 11 kills and a .345 attack percentage at the net for Powell. Flavia Oliverira added nine kills as the Trapper team produced 34 kills as a team.

The Trappers also displayed strength at the service stripe, cranking out 10 ace serves on the night. Oliveira led the way with six of those 10, including a sequence of three ace serves in a row.

Leah Schaal finished with 29 assists. Katie Burnett addded a team-best 13 digs.

On Saturday, the Trappers dropped a pair of close games 25-23, 26-24 to Eastern Wyoming and appeared to be on their way to dropping an 0-3 decision when they trailed 22-16 in game three, only to rally in a big way.

The Trappers scored 10 of the next 12 points to steal game three and inject some energy into the NWC crowd. Northwest rode that momentum to a 25-15 win in game four, but Eastern rallied for a 15-12 victory in the rubber game to take the match.

“We did a good job in coming back,” said Northwest College head coach Shaun Pohlman. “We just needed to come out with a bit more of that intensity early on.”

The Trappers were paced by the attack of Marina Leal (13 kills, .500 attack percentage) and Becky Downs (12 kills, .550 attack percentage). Oliveira also had 13 kills in the contest.

Leah Schaal once again produced the bulk of Northwest’s assists, finishing with 42 and also reaching double figures in the dig column with 10. Burnett dug 22 balls and Oliveira finished with 17 along the back row.

Leal played a role in 11 blocks, including producing a pair of solo stuffs in the game.

“It was great to finally be playing at home,” Pohlman said of the weekend. “Now we get to step on the bus again and spend another month on the road.”

The Trappers do not play another home contest until Oct. 14. The team finishes the season with six consecutive home matches.

This weekend, Northwest travels to Scottsbluff, Neb., to compete in the Wyo-braska tournament. The Trappers are scheduled to play four games, including games against ranked teams from Northeastern and Barton (Kan.).