Cardinals lose, win on first day of NWAC tourney

TACOMA, Wash. — Sydney Bybee and Kayla Neumann had eight kills each for North Idaho College, which fought back from a five-set loss in its opener to beat Bellevue 25-22, 25-21 in a consolation match at the Northwest Athletic Conference tournament on Thursday at the Tacoma Convention Center.

Hailee Etter had six kills and five digs, Kynzey Mitzel 12 digs, Hannah Templeton 26 assists and Neumann 10 digs for NIC (24-12), which faces the loser of today’s match between Edmonds and Walla Walla in the consolation round at 4:45 p.m.

Bellevue finishes 24-15.

Earlier on Thursday, Etter had 21 digs and 15 kills for the Cardinals in a 25-23, 16-25, 25-18, 22-25, 15-13 loss to Linn-Benton in an opening-round match.

Mitzel had 39 digs, Neumann 12 kills and 22 digs, Chelsea Taylor 10 kills, Bybee eight kills and three blocks and Templeton 46 assists and 11 digs for NIC in the opener.

Grace Phillips had 17 kills and Ally Tow 26 digs and 14 kills for Linn-Benton (30-10).