Five Northwest College volleyball players who saw the court last season will return to Powell this fall, bringing back key players from around the court in the second year under coach Nicole Buck.

The leading returner for matches played last season is McKinlee Scammon, an outside hitter from Tongue River High School, as she is also the leader in kills returning from last year with 184.

Scammon added 188 digs as well as 18 aces.

Another one of the top returners is Natalee Hayder from Three Forks, Montana. She was an outside and right side hitter last season.

Hayder featured in 20 matches, and recorded 46 kills, as Buck expects a large jump from Hayder this season as a leader for the team.

“She’s been an incredible leader throughout the whole spring. So I expect her to continue that,” Buck said. “McKinlee has been doing the same thing.”

Another player who saw plenty of the court was Eva Murray, a middle blocker from Green River.

She played 16 matches for the Trappers, recording 43 kills as well as 34 total blocks, 14 of them solo.

“I would expect big things from Eva,” Buck said. “That was her big goal last spring was just developing her voice and her leadership. She has incredibly high standards and a lot of really good things to say. She’s just working on developing her voice, and I think this will be a good year for her.”

Another middle blocker who saw the court sparingly due to injury a year ago was Brakkin Larsen from Elko, Nevada.

Despite her limited time she recorded 54 kills as well as 31 blocks, seven solo.

The final Trapper returner is Nevaeh Bell, who makes her way back to Powell from Buffalo as a defensive specialist.

She played in 14 matches, recording 16 digs as well as five aces.

Heading into the second season at the helm, Buck feels as if her squad is more comfortable with the returning sophomores from last year’s program.

“I feel like we’ve all settled into a routine. It’s not new, we’re not in panic mode anymore,” Buck said. “The girls are comfortable with me. Then recruiting, with the girls that we have coming back, we know each other really well, but they were also here and a part of the recruiting process. Every girl that we have coming in, they’ve all met. They’ve all been able to build relationships.”

She added that even though there are new players coming in, there is more of a familiarity between the returning sophomores and the incoming freshmen/transfers to the program.

She said these returning players put in a lot of work in the spring and she expects plenty of big things from them this fall.

“I’m just hoping to take a big step forward in our level of play. I expect big things from their leadership,” Buck said. “That’s what they worked really hard on. But they also worked really hard in the weight room and in the gym over the spring. So I just expect our level of play to take a big step forward.”

Those returning sophomores will compete alongside 12 other athletes coming to Northwest, including five new sophomores either transferring in or joining from the basketball program, as well as seven new freshmen.

Catch a recap of the incoming athletes to the program in a future edition of the Powell Tribune.