Your future, our focus
Big Matches On Tap
After some tough results in early season tournaments, Northwest volleyball has been picking up steam with two more wins on the road last week.
The first leg of the trip took the Trappers to Western Wyoming Community College in Rock Springs on Friday, where they faced the Lady Mustangs and swept them in three straight sets.
Western was 4-8 coming into the match and put up some resistance in each game, but Northwest won the first and third games with 25-20 scores and the second set 25-23.
Lauga Gauta and Holly Pittman each had nine kills to lead the scoring, with Lauryn Dela Cruz adding eight.
Next up was a stop at Riverton on Saturday in what would be another three-set sweep over the Central Wyoming Rustlers.
Central had been 6-5 before the match, but the Lady Trappers came out strong, taking a 25-15 win in the first set.
The Rustlers made it a pitched battle in the second set, pushing it to extra points before Northwest held on for a 27-25 win.
After that close call, the Trappers closed it out in dominant fashion, powering their way to an 11-point win, 25-14.
Dela Cruz was a key contributor, leading the team with 13 kills and nine digs, and Gauta cracked double figures in kills with 10.
“We are coming around,” head coach Shaun Pohlman said. “We’re back on the right track and hopefully we can keep it going. We’re at a high level of play and it’s just a matter of bringing that on a consistent basis.”
With its record now at 10-5 on the season, Northwest will finally have home matches, Friday at 7 p.m., with Casper in town, and Saturday afternoon at 3 p.m. against Sheridan.
“As far as the rankings, we’re still just receiving some votes,” Pohlman added. “Eastern is at 16, but they lost in four last night to Laramie County, which is an unranked team. And this is where the polls can not be so good, in that this could hurt our region. Instead of maybe moving Laramie up into the rankings, they might say that since Eastern lost to an unranked team, they’ll fall out and Laramie won’t get the credit and move up. So that could give the impression that Region 9 isn’t as strong.
“We have a chance to move up this weekend with Sheridan and Casper, but they will have to be statement wins,” he continued. “Getting sweeps over them would really help us, so this weekend is a big chance for us.”