Volleyball practice is well underway at Northwest College for the fall season, as the Trappers have been busy preparing and practicing for a number of scrimmages this Friday in Montana.

With a strong mix of sophomores as well as freshmen, coach Nicole Buck feels things have been going well for the Trappers through the first week of practice.

“I would say so far after week one, things are going really well. There’s just good chemistry among the girls, and not just positive energy, but good, aggressive energy,” Buck said. “Knock on wood, we haven’t had that slow, dead practice yet. We should be well past the honeymoon phase because we had two-a-days, went through the entire week of that.”

Those sophomores are a significant part of the early growth of the team, Buck said, as they have taken charge and been strong leaders after the team a year ago did not have many returning sophomores.

“I feel the sophomores have been incredible leaders as a whole. From warm-ups to making sure everybody is wearing the right shirt, to getting everybody everywhere on time, they’ve been incredibly helpful,” Buck said. “It’s just a nice change of pace from last year. We had great sophomores, we just didn’t have very many of them. This year we have 10 total if you count all the transfers and girls that joined over from basketball. Generally speaking we have a more experienced team, just full of leaders and it’s great.”

Along with the sophomores, Buck said the incoming freshmen, despite their concerns and worries, she feels they have adjusted quickly to the college speed early on.

“Today (Monday) at practice, I just pointed out some of them have so many questions and they’re starting to get worried about things, but they can’t even see how well they are adjusting to the pace of the game. Because whether they think it or not, it’s a lot faster than they’re used to, so it does take some time,” Buck said. “But they are adjusting well, and it helps to have sophomores helping them answer questions.”

She said the main thing she enjoys about the freshmen has been their effort and hustle; they try and go for everything.

One of those freshman standouts so far has been Jaylin Mills from Sundance, who Buck said has immediately made an impact as a leader for the team.

“She doesn’t hesitate to take charge as a leader. When we do our warm up every day in practice, we have two rows of girls doing different things, and each row needed a leader. She stepped right up, and people naturally look to her,” Buck said. “She’s not afraid to ask questions, not afraid to share insights, and I’ve just noticed that girls already have a lot of respect for what she has to say. Part of that is she has good things to say, but part of it is she works so hard the entire time on the court. So nobody has to question that she’s working really hard.”

Buck said she feels the team has adapted well to the pace of play that she wants to see, but wants to see them continue to increase the speed of play throughout the year. She said the players have set a strong baseline to this point.

The season technically kicks off this weekend for the Trappers, as they head up to Miles City to take on five different programs in scrimmages on Friday.

“It’s so important for us to be able to have that opportunity to try so many different things, so that the first time when we step onto the court for a match, we’re not just working through the butterflies right then,” Buck said. “This is an incredible opportunity, and it’s super crucial. The truth is, right now we do have a lot of question marks. There’s a lot of kids in every position fighting and fighting hard for their spot. I couldn’t tell you more than maybe two sure things, even that could change. It’s going to be really important for these girls and for us to figure out who works best in what spot with different people next to them.”

Scrimmages begin at 9 a.m. with Dawson Community College, followed by the host Miles Community College at 10:15, Williston State College at 12:45 p.m., Carroll College JV at 3:15 and the Dickinson State JV at 4:30.

Regular season matches kick off next weekend with three matches in Garden City, Kansas. The first home match for the Trappers is scheduled against Williston State on Sept. 11.