NJCAA TOURNAMENT: Cardinal volleyball team wins twice, will play for ninth at nationals
• VOLLEYBALL
CASPER, Wyo. — Penny Gwynn had 15 kills and 13 digs, Brittany Gay 37 assists and 14 digs and Brenna Meehan 14 kills and 14 digs for the North Idaho College volleyball team in a 25-20, 25-10, 22-25, 25-20 win over Hill College of Hillsboro, Texas, in the consolation bracket of the NJCAA tournament Friday.
The Cardinals face Hutchinson (33-9) in the 9th-10th place match today at 9 a.m. at the Casper Events Center.
Taylor Goudeau had nine kills for Hill, which finished 32-12.
Brooke Bell had 12 kills and Hannah Christianson had 14 digs for NIC against Hill.
Earlier, Meehan had 17 kills and 15 digs, Gwynn 13 kills and eight digs, Gay 38 assists and Christanson 23 digs as the Cardinals eliminated Yavapai of Prescott, Ariz., 21-25, 25-23, 25-20, 25-20.
In other tournament play, top seeded Southern Idaho (34-3) swept fifth seed Hillsborough 25-14, 25-15, 25-23 to advance to tonight’s national championship match.
NJCAA TOURNAMENT
at Casper Events Center
Friday’s matches
Consolation matches
Hill d. San Jacinto-Central 25-15, 21-5, 18-25, 25-20, 15-10 (loser out)
North Idaho d. Yavapai 21-25, 25-23, 25-20, 25-20 (loser out)
Central Florida d. Frank Phillips 27-29, 26-24, 32-30, 25-15 (loser out)
Hutchinson d. Wallace State 25-14, 30-28, 25-22 (loser out)
Championship bracket
Polk State d. Missouri State-West Plains 15-25, 25-18, 23-25, 25-17, 16-14
Iowa Western d. Blinn 25-15, 25-19, 25-21
North Idaho d. Hill 25-20, 25-10, 22-25, 25-20 (loser out)
Hutchinson d. Central Florida 21-25, 25-23, 25-23, 25-22 (loser out)
Western Nebraska d. Northwest 25-17, 25-22, 25-12 (semifinal)
Southern Idaho d. Hillsborough 25-14, 25-15, 25-23 (semifinal)
Saturday’s matches
Match 23 — No. 10 North Idaho (23-14) vs. No. 13 Hutchinson (33-9), 9 a.m. (ninth place)
Match 24 — No. 7 Missouri State-West Plains (26-11) vs. No. 9 Blinn (30-12), 11:30 (seventh place)
Match 25 — No. 6 Polk State (24-11) vs. No. 4 Iowa Western (41-8), 1:30 p.m. (fifth place)
Match 26 — No. 3 Northwest (33-5) vs. No. 5 Hillsborough (33-6), 3:30 (third place)
Match 27 — No. 2 Western Nebraska (42-4) vs. No. 1 Southern Idaho (34-3), 5:30 (championship match)
• MEN’S BASKETBALL
North Idaho 86
Pierce 63
LAKEWOOD, Wash. — Reigning NJCAA Player of the Week Braian Angola-Rodas had 20 points and 12 rebounds for the Cardinals in a nonconference win over the Raiders.
Brayon (BJ) Blake had 10 points and 11 rebounds for NIC (5-0), which plays at Green River tonight at 6 in Auburn, Wash.
“It was pretty balanced tonight and a tough trip for us,” NIC coach Corey Symons said. “We drove over today and with a six-hour drive, we got out of the vans and played and didn’t get out to a great start. We were able to gather ourselves at halftime and pulled away. It was a good team win for us.”
It was Pierce’s season opener.
NORTH IDAHO
Sam Dowd 2-4 3-4 7, Lucas Antunez 2-3 0-0 4, Haywood Irwin 2-6 2-5 7, Trey Burch-Manning 5-9 4-4 14, Brayon (BJ) Blake 4-14 2-4 11, Dylan Okoro 0-1 0-0 0, Braian Angola-Rodas 8-16 3-4 20, Kaleb Warner 3-7 0-0 9, Kyle Guice 4-7 0-0 10, Ziggy Satterthwaite 2-2 0-1 4, Scott Turner 0-0 0-0 0, Tony Naccarato 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 32-70 14-22 86.
PIERCE
Robert Rucker 4-11 0-1 9, Chris Drake 2-5 2-2 7, Cameron McKissic 1-3 0-0 3, Muhammed Cole 0-2 0-0 0, Brilan Kelly 4-8 0-0 8, Michael Hannan 4-7 0-0 9, McKaleb McInnis 3-6 1-1 8, Robert Knox Jr. 2-3 0-0 5, Axel Lakea 2-4 0-0 4, Casey Gearhart 1-4 0-0 2, Alexander Jones 3-9 1-1 8, Jeremy Bishop 0-3 0-0 0. Totals 26-65 4-5 63.
Halftime — NIC 40-32 3-point goals — NIC 8-23 (Antunez 0-1, Burch-Manning 1-3, Blake 1-4, Angola-Rodas 1-4, Warner 3-6, Guice 2-5), PC 7-28 (Rucker 1-4, Drake 1-4, McKissic 1-3, Kelly 0-4, Hannan 1-4, McInnis 1-3, Knox Jr. 1-2, Gearhart 0-1, Jones 1-4). Rebounds — NIC 52 (Angola-Rodas 12), PC 29 (Jones 7). Assists — NIC 9 (Antunez, Angola-Rodas, Naccarato 2), PC 11 (Drake 4). Team fouls — NIC 12, PC 18. Fouled out — none.