Northwest, Laramie County in tie for first

The Northwest Lady Trappers lost their first conference match of the season last week, falling at Casper College on Saturday.

After taking Sheridan College in three sets (25-19, 25-16, 25-19) on Friday, the Trappers were unable to play consistently the next day. Casper College’s Thunderbirds took advantage with a 25-21, 25-21, 25-19 win to run their record to 5-3.

The loss leaves NWC in a tie with Laramie County, whose only loss of the season came at the hands of the Trappers on Sept. 30.

“For some reason, we just didn’t jell,” Northwest head volleyball coach Shaun Pohlman said of the Trappers’ first conference loss in nearly two years, and their first loss to Casper since 2013.

Even so, Pohlman said the Trappers played well at times, but seemed to shut down when the score was between 15 and 20. In each of the two first sets, they kept the score close and led at times. Only in the third set did the Trappers trail from the beginning, and even then they “had a good run” to tie the score before the Thunderbirds pulled away, Pohlman said.

Lauga Gauta, last week’s national player of the week (see accompanying story) led the offense against Casper with 19 kills. Lauryn Dela Cruz also reached double figures with 12. Dela Cruz and Reilly Baty each collected eight digs on defense while Alye Wagner and Bree Donarski each picked up seven. Maliya Tela contributed 38 assists. As a team, the Trappers recorded only eight blocks, led by a pair from Olivia Jarvis, and Kelsey Marchant served the only ace.

In the win over Sheridan, Gauta led with 17 kills, and Dela Cruz recorded 12 while also leading with 11 digs. Tela provided 42 assists, two aces and two block assists, and Holly Pittman scored two block assists as well.

“This is a funny game,” Pohlman said. “When you lose by four points (in a set) there are so many different plays, it’s hard to say what caused you to lose those points.”

Pohlman said the loss is a setback in the Trappers’ quest to return to the National Tournament, but they are still in a position to repeat as conference champions.

“Last year we had our setback at the Nationals,” he said. “Hopefully this is our setback for this year, and we have time to recover. If we’re going to fall apart, we’ll have time to fix it before the tournament.”

The Trappers have been hit by injuries and illness this season, and Pohlman has had to perform a “juggling act” as the season has progressed. Mikayla Sellers-Weibe — who was a big contributor to the Trappers win at Laramie County — did not play last week due to a knee injury she suffered in that match after a collision with a teammate. Two players have been ill this week, and others are recovering from sprains and the bumps and bruises that are part of sports.

“It’s been a bad year for us in terms of injuries,” Pohlman said, but he hopes to have most of his players available for play as the end of the season approaches.

The top seed in the conference tournament is still up for grabs. All seven teams have four matches remaining and all are in action this weekend. Key games for the Trappers are their match with co-leader Laramie County and the Golden Eagles’ matchup with a surging Casper team that Pohlman said is a factor for the Trappers in post-season competition.

“Casper is always a concern,” Pohlman said. “They are well coached and have good players.”

This week, the Trappers will entertain the Central Wyoming Rustlers Friday at 7 p.m. and Western Wyoming Mustangs at 3 p.m. Saturday. The Rustlers are winless on the season, and the Mustangs 4-4, but with the top seed up for grabs, the Trappers can’t afford a letdown.

The conference season comes to an end next week with a Friday, Oct. 28, match against the dangerous Laramie County Golden Eagles followed by a Saturday, Oct. 29, afternoon match against the 4-4 Eastern Wyoming Lancers.

The conference tournament will be played in Riverton, Nov. 2-5.

Pohlman said he is hoping for big home crowds as his team closes out the season.

“We appreciate the crowds, and the amount of support has been pretty cool,” he said. “I don’t see that at the other schools when we travel. The support of both the student body and the community has been awesome.”

“This is the last year the National Tournament will be in Casper, and we want to be there,” Pohlman added. “Crowd support can help.”