A difficult road trip through Montana had the Northwest College Trapper volleyball team struggle to find victories, falling in a pair of doubleheaders last week before finishing with a win Tuesday night in Billings.

PROVIDENCE JV 3, NORTHWEST 0

The long trip through Montana kicked off on Sept. 6, as the Trappers (6-12) played a doubleheader against the Providence College junior varsity team in Great Falls, Montana.

Close sets was a theme throughout the first match, with the Trappers coming up just short in the first set 25-21.

That ended up being the biggest set margin of victory in the first match, with the two teams battling in the second set.

Northwest once again came up just short, losing 25-22.

The third set continued to be close throughout, forcing the winner to more than 25 to claim victory.

Providence reached 26, defeating the Trappers 26-24 and claiming the sweep to earn the first match victory.

Hitting consistency proved to be an issue for the Trappers, with the team not hitting over .100 in any set and posting a negative .057 in the second set.

“A lot of it is technique stuff that we are working on, and some of it is freshman stuff. Learning to play this bigger, faster and stronger game,” coach Scott Keister said.

Taylor Wilson finished with nine kills and four aces, Kennedy Oman finished with four blocks and Ellie Thomas and Elsa Clark tied with 17 digs each.

PROVIDENCE JV 3, NORTHWEST 1

The Trappers started strong in the second set, pushing past for a first set victory 25-21 despite a negative hitting percentage.

Another poor hitting set in the second allowed Providence to pull away, earning a 25-17 win.

The best hitting set of the day came in the third, with Northwest pulling above zero to hit .034, but couldn’t find a winning set and came up short 25-16.

In the fourth, the Trappers again continued to struggle finding consistent hitting, falling 25-14 in the final set.

Wilson led once again with seven kills, Oman had four blocks and Thomas had 17 digs.

“Kennedy is starting to come along,” Keister said. “She is definitely our best blocker so we are moving her around to see where she is going to be best. The offense is coming along for her. That’s what we are looking for is are we getting better each time we go out there.”

CARROLL COLLEGE JV 3, NORTHWEST 1

After the doubleheader Wednesday the road trip continued on Thursday, with another doubleheader, this time against Carroll College in Helena, Montana.

The first set saw the hosts take a narrow 25-21 win, before taking the second set 25-17 and a 2-0 lead.

Northwest answered in the third, taking the set 25-22, but the Trappers were unable to complete a comeback after Carroll took the fourth set 25-17.

“It was a hard fought match throughout,” Keister said. “We didn’t serve particularly well, we didn’t pass very well and our hitting has not been great this year at any point. I think we can hang with teams but we’ve got to serve well and pass well.” 

Oman and Wilson led with nine kills each, while Thomas led with 20 digs.

CARROLL COLLEGE JV 3, NORTHWEST 2

The final match of the initial trip to Montana had the Trappers in a battle to the end against Carroll. The hosts took the first set 25-23 before Northwest answered with two straight set wins 25-19 and 25-22 to take the lead — highlighted by a .355 hitting percentage in the second set.

In the fourth set Carroll took advantage of poor hitting by Northwest to take a 25-17 win, before taking the fifth set 15-8.

Wilson led with 15 kills just ahead of Jordynel Anderson with 11, Hutchings had 35 assists and Thomas had 24 digs.

NORTHWEST 3, ROCKY MOUNTAIN JV 1

After the matches against Providence and Carroll, the Trappers returned to rest for a few days before heading to Billings on Tuesday to take on the Rocky Mountain JV.

Both teams came out and battled throughout, with Northwest taking a 25-23 first set victory and a 25-21 second set win to take a 2-0 lead early.

“After that Helena and Great Falls trip we finally just said, ‘this is our lineup,’” Keister said. “We looked at a lot of data and scenario types … it went well, we won the first two sets, we didn’t play particularly well in the first set but we were consistent.”

That was followed by a narrow victory from the Battlin’ Bears, earning a 27-25 third set victory to force a fourth set.

Northwest came out and battled to the end, earning a 27-25 victory in the fourth to take the 3-1 win.

“They missed that winning feeling, and it was good for them to feel that again,” Keister said. “Not that winning has been our goal, it has been our performance … They were emotional after the match because they felt they finally put together a match with good performance.” 

BREAK BEFORE CONFERENCE

After that final match against Rocky, the Trappers returned home and will stay at home for the next week before heading out on the road to start the conference season.

“We have to accept who we are and not be frustrated with who we aren’t,” Keister said. 

He said the players have the opportunity to step back and take a look at what they do well and work on certain areas they need to improve over this time before heading into a normal two-match-per-week schedule from here on out.

“They understand that this is not a win-loss situation for our success. It’s are we getting better every day, are we taking care of our teammates and are we enjoying our experience. You can go ask any one of them, they are loving this year,” Keister said.

He said that the spirits remain high in the program heading into the short break in action, with the Trappers hoping to make an impression in the conference season despite a 6-12 record.

PROVIDENCE JV 3, NORTHWEST 0

Total blocks then solo blocks in ()

Kills — Taylor Wilson 9, Burkelle Field 5, Elsa Clark 5, Sierra Kilts 2, Tilli Danczyk 2, Kennedy Oman 2, Kamri Hutchings 1, Mikey Pilila’au 1, Kamryn Jenkins 1

Assists — Kamri Hutchings 16, Kamryn Jenkins 9, Ellie Thomas 1, Elsa Clark 1, Taylor Wilson 1

Digs — Ellie Thomas 17, Elsa Clark 17, Kamri Hutchings 13, Kamryn Jenkins 8, Burkelle Field 6, Taylor Wilson 4, Kennedy Oman 2, Sierra Kilts 1, Alexis Grgich 1, Tilli Danczyk 1, Mikey Pilila’au 1

Blocks — Kennedy Oman 4 (1), Taylor Wilson 3 (1), Kamri Hutchings 1 (1), Burkelle Field 1, Elsa Clark 1, Tilli Danczyk 1, Mikey Pilila’au 1

Aces — Taylor Wilson 4, Elsa Clark 1, Kennedy Oman 1, Kamryn Jenkins 1

PROVIDENCE JV 3, NORTHWEST 1

Kills — Taylor Wilson 7, Kennedy Oman 5, Sierra Kilts 4, Jordynel Anderson 3, Elsa Clark 2, Tilli Danczyk 2, Burkelle Field 1, Mikey Pilila’au 1

Assists — Kamri Hutchings 14, Kamryn Jenkins 9, Ellie Thomas 2

Digs — Ellie Thomas 17, Kamryn Jenkins 11, Kamri Hutchings 9, Taylor Wilson 7, Sierra Kilts 5, Jordynel Anderson 4, Burkelle Field 3, Annika Bushman 3, DanniKa Barfuss 3, Alexis Grgich 2, Elsa Clark 1

Blocks — Kennedy Oman 4 (2), Sierra Kilts 2.5 (1), Burkelle Field 2, Jordynel Anderson 1.5 (1), Taylor Wilson 1 (1), Annika Bushman .5, Mikey Pilila’au .5

Aces — DanniKa Barfuss 3, Jordynel Anderson 2, Kamryn Jenkins 2, Taylor Wilson 1

CARROLL COLLEGE JV 3, NORTHWEST 1

Kills — Kennedy Oman 9, Taylor Wilson 9, Burkelle Field 5, Elsa Clark 5, Sierra Kilts 3, Kamri Hutchings 2, Tilli Danczyk 2, Jordynel Anderson 2

Assists — Kamri Hutchings 20, Kamryn Jenkins 11, Ellie Thomas 4, Elsa Clark 1, Jordynel Anderson 1

Digs — Ellie Thomas 20, Kamri Hutchings 12, Elsa Clark 10, DanniKa Barfuss 10, Taylor Wilson 4, Jordynel Anderson 3, Kamryn Jenkins 3, Sierra Kilts 2

Blocks — Taylor Wilson 2.5 (2), Kennedy Oman 2, Burkelle Field 1 (1), Sierra Kilts 1, Tilli Danczyk 1

Aces — Kennedy Oman 3, Elsa Clark 2, Ellie Thomas 1, Kamryn Jenkins 1, Taylor Wilson 1

CARROLL COLLEGE JV 3, NORTHWEST 2

Kills — Taylor Wilson 15, Jordynel Anderson 11, Sierra Kilts 7, Burkelle Field 5, Tilli Danczyk 5, Kennedy Oman 5, Ellie Thomas 3, Alexis Grgich 1

Assists — Kamri Hutchings 35, Kamryn Jenkins 17

Digs — Ellie Thomas 24, Elsa Clark 16, Kamri Hutchings 8, DanniKa Barfuss 7, Kamryn Jenkins 6, Kennedy Oman 4, Jordynel Anderson 3, Taylor Wilson 3, Sierra Kilts 2, Tilli Danczyk 2

Blocks — Kennedy Oman 3.5 (1), Taylor Wilson 2.5 (2), Jordynel Anderson 1, Sierra Kilts .5, Tilli Danczyk .5

Aces — Kennedy Oman 4, Elsa Clark 3, Kamri Hutchings 2

NORTHWEST 3, ROCKY MOUNTAIN JV 1

Full stats were not available at press time