The Northwest College women’s volleyball team came up just short of advancing to the national tournament during a strong postseason run in Casper. The Trappers defeated McCook Community College and Central Wyoming College 3-1, before being swept in two separate championship matches by Western Nebraska Community College and Northeastern Junior College to finish third.

NORTHWEST 3, MCCOOK CC 1

(17-25, 26-24, 25-18, 25-14)

Starting the tournament as the Region IX North No. 2 seed the Trappers (15-16) took on the Region IX South No. 3 seed Indians (16-17).

The Trappers started slow and trailed early and often, behind 7-4 and 17-10 before calling timeouts.

Northwest fought back and got it to a couple points, but the Indians pushed it back out to seven.

The Trappers got some late momentum, but fell 25-17.

“No one on our team had been in that situation before, so we knew we could compete better,” coach Nicole Buck said. “We just needed to loosen up, so the message was really just about taking a deep breath and reminding them that we had worked hard to be there. There was nothing to be nervous about and just reminding them that we had prepared for them.”

Northwest started better in the second, leading 10-9 before McCook took the lead and extended it to 14-11.

A Torey Parker kill tied it at 16, and a McKinlee Scammon kill gave Northwest the lead.

Staring at a 2-0 deficit late in the set, the Trappers were down 24-23, before reeling off three straight points and taking the win 26-24 on a Chaney Reish block.

“That was probably the critical turning point of the whole weekend,” Buck said. “I think it just showed the girls they can finish a set that’s really difficult, and then they just used that to build their confidence even more the next one.”

Northwest started the third set taking an 11-8 lead and forcing a timeout by McCook after a Parker ace.

The Trappers held off a late set charge by the Indians, making it 21-18 on a Jaylin Mills kill, and a 6-0 run to end the set resulted in a 25-18 win finished by a Parker ace.

Reish’s kill was tipped out to make it 9-3 early in the fourth, and the Trappers had the lead to double-digits early at 13-3 after a hit out.

That double-digit lead held throughout as the Trappers finished with a 25-14 win.

Parker led with 14 kills, just ahead of Scammon with 13.

Jaylie Critchfield led with 36 assists and 12 digs, Ellee Summers added 10 digs and led with five aces.

Brakkin Larsen, Parker and Reish each had two blocks.

NORTHWEST 3, CENTRAL WYOMING 1

(25-16, 16-25, 25-21, 25-17)

On Thursday the Trappers took on the Rustlers (7-20) who upset the south No. 1 seed the day before.

Northwest won the first set 25-16, before Central returned the favor with a 25-16 second set win.

Northwest pulled off a closer third set win 25-21 and looked to close it out in the fourth.

The Trappers led midway through 12-10, and two straight Summers aces forced a timeout by Central when Northwest led 17-14.

The Trappers pulled ahead for good and earned a 25-17 win to advance to the Region IX Championship Game.

“The law of averages states it’s really hard to beat a good team three times, so that was in the back of my mind maybe more than the girls’ minds,” Buck said. “But we’d just talked about how we had prepared for them all season … It (at Central) was our first big conference win that showed us that we could turn things around.”

Scammon, Parker and Mills tied for the team lead with 11 kills each.

Critchfield led with 38 assists and 20 digs. Mills added 12 digs and Scammon had 10.

Parker led with two blocks while Summers led with four aces.

WESTERN NEBRASKA CC 3, NORTHWEST 0

(25-17, 25-16, 25-17)

Heading into Friday the Trappers took on the No. 2 seed out of the south in the Cougars (24-14) with the winner advancing to the national tournament.

Western Nebraska forced an early timeout from the Trappers, before extending the lead further to 17-8.

Northwest was unable to get in the set, and despite some late momentum fell 25-17.

A better start to the second set had Northwest trailing 14-10, but the Cougars had too many options and again pulled away at the end of the set for a 25-16 win.

A similar story followed in the third, as Northwest trailed 10-6 before that lead was extended to 17-10.

Northwest trimmed the advantage to 17-13, but the Cougars pushed ahead late again for a 25-17 win to take the Region IX/Plains A District Championship.

“Some of our girls had never seen a game that fast, had never seen an offense run that quickly and that aggressively at the same time. Maybe against Casper and a couple teams we saw early on, but consistently they’d never seen that,” Buck said. “It wasn’t about learning anything specifically, but rather gaining experience and learning how to train your eye to move quicker, train your mind to see the game a little bit faster.”

Scammon led with 10 kills and 10 digs, Critchfield had 22 assists, Parker led with two blocks and Summers had two aces.

NORTHEASTERN JC 3, NORTHWEST 0

(25-22, 25-13, 25-21)

Dropping down to the Plains B Championship the Trappers still had a chance to advance to the national tournament with a match against the south No. 1 seeded Plainswomen (29-7), who battled back from an opening round upset.

Northwest built a 9-4 lead after a Parker kill and forcing a Northeastern timeout.

Northeastern cut the lead down to 13-12 and forced a Trapper timeout, and eventually tied the match at 15.

The Plainswomen pushed ahead by two, but the Trappers regained the lead 21-20.

Momentum swung back to Northeastern as a close call on the line went the way of the Plainswomen, as they pulled ahead for the first set win 25-22.

The Trappers trailed throughout the second set, closing it within several points midway through, but the Plainswomen finished the set with a 25-13 win.

A similar story followed in the third, as the Trappers trailed throughout and had an opportunity to tie the match at 17 points each, but a service error never allowed Northwest to tie as Northeastern earned a 25-21 win.

“We got better even in those last two matches because we can’t ever improve and step up to that level without first seeing what it looks like. We exposed our kids to that, which was really crucial for where I and we want this program to go,” Buck said.

SEASON WRAPS

Ending the year the Trappers made a significant jump from last season’s results, using a late season push to earn the No. 2 seed while advancing in the Region IX Tournament to get two chances at making the national tournament.

“I’m immensely proud. When we went to the locker room afterward it was just all tears and pride. Just talking to them how proud we were of them, overcoming a couple big dips in the season,” Buck said. “I felt like the girls did make a little bit of a push every day that we were there, and it’s something to be deeply proud of. I feel like it sets a good tone for next year.”

Buck said she is proud of the freshmen group who made significant strides this season, with approximately half the roster eligible to return next year.

“They know what that stage looks like. It’s more comfortable now, so that helps,” Buck said. “I think they’re using it the right way and already prepping and excited, which is exactly what you want to hear.”

The other half will say goodbye to the program, with a couple returners as well as a number of transfers, whether that came from inside or outside of Northwest, moving on.

“Even though it was kind of a hodgepodge group, just having a year of college life under their belt, having more kids with a year of that experience in the program than not, just helped even out emotions in a lot of settings which was nice,” Buck said. “It provided a little bit more leadership, every single one of them played such a crucial role … It was an awesome group.”

NORTHWEST 3, MCCOOK CC 1

Total blocks then solo blocks in ()

Kills — Torey Parker 14, McKinlee Scammon 13, Chaney Reish 8, Brakkin Larsen 6, Jaylin Mills 6, Maddie Mills 1

Assists — Jaylie Critchfield 36, Ellee Summers 4, Maddie Mills 3, McKinlee Scammon 1, Nevaeh Bell 1, Chaney Reish 1

Digs — Jaylie Critchfield 12, Ellee Summers 10, McKinlee Scammon 8, Nevaeh Bell 5, Lundyn Murray 5, Torey Parker 4, Maddie Mills 3, Saige Kidd 1

Blocks — Brakkin Larsen 2 (1), Torey Parker 2, Chaney Reish 2, Jaylie Critchfield .5, Jaylin Mills .5

Aces — Ellee Summers 5, Torey Parker 4, Maddie Mills 1, Lundyn Murray 1

NORTHWEST 3, CENTRAL WYOMING 1

Kills — McKinlee Scammon 11, Torey Parker 11, Jaylin Mills 11, Brakkin Larsen 7, Saige Kidd 4, Chaney Reish 4, Jaylie Critchfield 1

Assists — Jaylie Critchfield 38, Ellee Summers 3, Nevaeh Bell 2, McKinlee Scammon 1, Brakkin Larsen 1

Digs — Jaylie Critchfield 20, Jaylin Mills 12, McKinlee Scammon 10, Nevaeh Bell 9, Torey Parker 6, Lundyn Murray 6, Chaney Reish 1

Blocks — Torey Parker 2, Brakkin Larsen 1.5, Saige Kidd 1.5, Chaney Reish 1.5, McKinlee Scammon .5

Aces — Ellee Summers 4, Jaylin Mills 3, Jaylie Critchfield 2, McKinlee Scammon 1

WESTERN NEBRASKA CC 3, NORTHWEST 0

Kills — McKinlee Scammon 10, Brakkin Larsen 9, Torey Parker 4, Jaylin Mills 4, Chaney Reish 1

Assists — Jaylie Critchfield 22, Maddie Mills 5, Ellee Summers 1

Digs — McKinlee Scammon 10, Jaylin Mills 7, Jaylie Critchfield 6, Ellee Summers 6, Maddie Mills 5, Nevaeh Bell 5, Lundyn Murray 5, Torey Parker 2, Elayna Burrell 1, Saige Kidd 1, Chaney Reish 1

Blocks — Torey Parker 2, Chaney Reish 1, McKinlee Scammon .5, Jaylin Mills .5

Aces — Ellee Summers 2

NORTHEASTERN JC 3, NORTHWEST 0

*Stats from this match are incomplete due to a technical issue

Kills — McKinlee Scammon 9, Torey Parker 7, Natalee Hayder 2, Brakkin Larsen 2, Jaylie Critchfield 1, Jaylin Mills 1

Digs — Lundyn Murray 5, Jaylie Critchfield 4, Ellee Summers 4, Nevaeh Bell 4, Jaylin Mills 4, McKinlee Scammon 1

Blocks — Saige Kidd 3 (2), Torey Parker 1, Jaylie Critchfield .5, Brakkin Larsen .5, Chaney Reish .5

Aces — Jaylin Mills 1