Your future, our focus
BY SETH ROMSA TRIBUNE SPORTS WRITER
Courtesy of the Powell Tribune
A strong, small core of players is set to return to the court for the Northwest College volleyball team this fall — returning four players from a team that finished 20-12 last season.
Returning for another year from Gillette will be a duo of players in Elsa Clark and Ellie Thomas who both attended Thunder Basin High School.
Thomas returns after a strong freshman season where she finished with 451 digs as the team’s primary libero for a majority of the season before an injury in the Region IX Tournament.
Her 435 digs were good enough for top 40 in the NJCAA.
Thomas also set the school record for digs in a match when she finished with 34 against the Rocky Mountain JV in October.
She also finished as a strong serving option for the team, finishing with 54 aces to finish 35th in the country.
Thomas earned a second team All-Region selection for her efforts in her first season.
Clark will return for her third season with the team after not playing in the 2021-22 season.
Last season she finished with 64 kills as an outside hitter while gathering a total of 54 blocks (13 solo blocks).
The final Wyoming player returning from last year’s roster is Kamri Hutchings, who will return from Mountain View with a likely expanded role from her first season on the team.
Hutchings shared time as a setter throughout the season but primarily served as a backup towards the tail end of the season.
Despite sharing court time Hutchings finished with 314 assists on the season, and will likely see an expanded role heading into her sophomore season for the Trappers.
The one out of state returner for the Trappers will be Jocelyn Sanders, who will make her way back to Powell from Las Vegas.
Sanders served as a middle blocker for the Trappers last year, playing in 26 of the 32 games for the Trappers after a midseason injury.
She finished with 142 kills and 80 total blocks in her freshman campaign, finishing with 19 solo blocks on the season.
Sanders was the only other Trapper freshman alongside Thomas named to the second All-Region team last season.
With this returning group, coach Scott Keister is hopeful they have learned from last year’s struggles that occurred at times and help lead a strong core this upcoming season.
“Leadership is what I expect,” Keister said. “Last year was tough with all the injuries. We got rid of some, the team culture wasn’t awful but it wasn’t where I wanted it.”
He said that some athletes from last year left either through transfers or hung it up, with Keister wanting a strong leadership change heading into this year.
“This group we have coming in we have had that conversation with,” Keister said. “They are all just dying to be here, they want to be here and want a chance to prove themselves.”