Trapper volleyball battled but lost a key conference matchup 3-0 to No. 10-ranked Central Wyoming on Wednesday, Sept. 28, before defeating the Rocky Mountain JV Tuesday night 3-2.

CENTRAL WYOMING 3, NORTHWEST 0

Starting out a seven game road swing in Riverton, Northwest (15-7 overall, 2-1 Region IX North) took on the Rustlers (13-7 overall, 3-0 Region IX North) for early control of Region IX North.

Coach Scott Keister knew the team would have a difficult time as they went into the top 10 matchup without kills leader Kim Pannell due to an injury.

Despite missing Pannell, Northwest battled in the first set but were unable to overcome the serving of Central — dropping the set 25-18.

Serving continued to cause problems for Northwest, who committed 13 receiving errors in the match.

“We got aced too many times,” Keister said. “We had 13 reception errors and you can never win a game if that happens.”

In the second set the Trappers were unable to overcome the Rustlers, dropping a closer second set 25-20.

Central played strong in the third set, hitting .320 as a team and putting away Northwest 25-21. 

“I thought we played well regardless of the circumstances,” Keister said. “We served well but our passing struggled. That is why we like playing these good teams, we had a weakness that day and they exploited it.”

Overall for the game the Trappers hit .099 as a team, led by Sidney Parker who had eight kills and Megan Pannell who had seven.

NORTHWEST 3, ROCKY MOUNTAIN JV 2

A test presented itself to Northwest on Tuesday, heading to Billings to take on the Rocky Mountain JV in a difficult matchup.

Northwest won the first set 25-20, before dropping the second and third sets 26-24, 25-23.

Battling back against the Battlin’ Bears the Trappers won the fourth set 25-21 — setting up a decisive fifth set.

Northwest trailed early 10-4, but rallied to trail just 14-13 near the end of the set.

The Trappers scored four of the next five points and took the fifth set 17-15.

Freshman libero Ellie Thomas broke the Northwest College record for digs, finishing with 34 for the match.

According to Keister, records only date back to 2012, with Thomas breaking a record of 33 that was held by three players.

Paige Weimer tied the record last year versus North Idaho, Katie Burnett and Allyson Mahon set the record in 2012 in separate matches against the Rocky Mountain JV.

ROAD SWING

Northwest will spend countless hours on a bus this upcoming weekend, starting on the road in Rock Springs to take on Western Wyoming (7-20 overall, 0-3 Region IX North) at 6 p.m on Friday.

“Rock Springs is a tough place to play,” Keister said.

The Trappers will continue the road trip up to Casper on Saturday, taking on the T-Birds (4-21 overall, 1-2 Region IX North) at 2 p.m.

“Their record does not reflect how good they are,” Keister said. “They have played a ton of top 10 teams. I think if you go through the top 15 teams in the country I think they have played all of them.”

Keister is hopeful that Kim Pannell will be cleared to play before the games this weekend, but expects her to be back next weekend.

He said this season is interesting because any team can win on any given day, setting up the Trappers for two more key matchups this weekend.

CENTRAL WYOMING 3, NORTHWEST 0

Kills — Sidney Parker 8, Megan Pannell 7, Brooke Palmer 5, Kamri Hutchings 2, Jocelyn Sanders 1, Elsa Clark 1

Assists — Emma Hanson 15, Kamri Hutchings 7, Ellie Thomas 2

Digs — Ellie Thomas 10, Sidney Parker 8, Megan Pannell 4, Kamri Hutchings 4, Emma Hanson 4, Brooke Palmer 3, Elsa Clark 1

Aces — Ellie Thomas 1, Elsa Clark 1, Sidney Parker 1, Megan Pannell 1

Blocks — Jocelyn Sanders 2, Mia Sorensen 1, Brooke Palmer 1, Elsa Clark 1, Sidney Parker .5, Megan Pannell .5

NORTHWEST 3, ROCKY MOUNTAIN JV 2

Kills — Megan Pannell 20, Sidney Parker 11, Jocelyn Sanders 10, Mia Sorensen 7, Elsa Clark 5, Brooke Palmer 3, Emma Hanson 2, Kamri Hutchings 1

Assists — Emma Hanson 50, Ellie Thomas 3, Kamri Hutchings 3, Brooke Palmer 1, Megan Pannell 1, Jocelyn Sanders 1

Digs — Ellie Thomas 34, Megan Pannell 14, Brooke Palmer 12, Sidney Parker 11, Emma Hanson 6, Mia Sorensen 6, Elsa Clark 6, Jocelyn Sanders 4, Kamri Hutchings 1

Aces — Megan Pannell 6, Emma Hanson 4, Ellie Thomas 2, Brooke Palmer 2, Sidney Parker 2, Jocelyn Sanders 1

Blocks — Sidney Parker 4, Megan Pannell 3, Jocelyn Sanders 3, Emma Hanson 1.5, Elsa Clark 1.5