Cardinals sweep Shoreline to open NWAC Championship

TACOMA, Wash. — Freshman Kayla Neumann had 23 kills and nine digs for North Idaho College in a 25-19, 27-25, 25-19 win over Shoreline in the opening round of the Northwest Athletic Conference Championship tournament on Thursday at the Tacoma Convention Center.

“She picked a good time to be on her game today,” said NIC coach Kelsey Stanley, who was named East Region Coach of the Year earlier this week. “Kayla just had a great game today. She not only put the ball in, but played good defense and picked up a lot of tips that should have gone down. This is a tough tournament. It’s a lot of volleyball compressed into one day.”

Macy DuCoeur, a Lake City High product, had 10 kills and seven digs for NIC (32-6), which advances to face Linn-Benton (32-8) today at 12:30 p.m.

NIC swept Linn-Benton in a season-opening crossover tournament in Eugene in August.

“That was the first week of the season and everyone has changed a lot since then,” Stanley said. “They’re a different team. We’re a different team. They’re going to beat tough to beat.”

Halle Hess had seven kills and 14 digs, Rachel Leshikar 15 digs for NIC.

Ashlee Conklin had 17 kills for Shoreline, which was eliminated later Thursday by Lower Columbia to finish 14-23.