An up and down evening
LOREN BENOIT/Press Kaitlin Hunter of North Idaho College hits a spike as Taylor Gould of the Community Colleges of Spokane goes for the block in Wednesday night’s volleyball match at Christianson Gym.
Kynzey Mitzel of North Idaho College bounces the ball to a teammate in Wednesday night's match against Spokane Falls Community College. (LOREN BENOIT/Press)
COEUR d’ALENE — At times on Wednesday night, the North Idaho College volleyball team looked like they could hang with the best of the best in the Northwest Athletic Conference.
Other times, they didn’t.
Kayla Neumann had 16 kills and nine digs and Kaitlin Hunter had five kills and two blocks for the Cardinals in a 25-18, 24-26, 25-8, 25-20 loss to the Community Colleges of Spokane Sasquatch in a NWAC East Region match at Christianson Gym.
NIC (18-8, 5-2 NWAC) was sparked in the second set by Hunter, who had two kills and a block to help even the set at a game apiece.
“She brings the same energy she brings to each game and practice,” said NIC coach Kelsey Stanley of Hunter, a freshman from Lake City. “You can always count on her to be consistent as far as her energy. She had a really good second set that really helped us.”
Spokane (25-0, 6-0) scored seven of the final eight points in the third set to regain control of the match.
“Spokane is just a good, consistent team,” Stanley said. “We had our setter (Haylee Templeton) out due to injury and we were just kind of on survival mode. Chloe (Knudson) did a great job for us, but we’ve got to learn to adjust to situations like this and be ready to play if it happens. And we just didn’t do a good job of that.”
Sydney Bybee, a middle blocker from Coeur d’Alene High, is also out with a foot injury.
“We’re kind of down a little bit,” Stanley said. “But that’s fine. It gives other girls a chance to play and get some playing time.”
Alisha Straw had 15 kills, Allena Gallagher 20 assists for Spokane, which entered the night the top-ranked team in the NWAC polls.
“We’ve been playing with a pretty big crowd lately,” Spokane coach Jenni Rosselli-Hull said. “I think we overall like that. We had some extra people here as well come out for the match as well.”
Hailee Etter had 14 kills and 15 digs, Knudson 36 assists and Chelsea Taylor two aces for NIC.
“They’re always tough,” Rosselli-Hull said. “Kelsey always put together a tough team and they’re outside hitter heavy and we tried to match up the best we could tonight. We’re excited to have competition through every point.”
Neumann had five kills in the fourth set to rally NIC from a 23-13 deficit.
“She comes up and bangs ball, plays aggressive and is tough to stop,” Rosselli-Hull said. “But I thought we did a good job of stopping it tonight.”
NIC travels to Yakima Valley on Friday. NIC is now third in the East Region, trailing Walla Walla, which is 24-4, 5-1.
“We’re hot and cold, which is frustrating,” Stanley said. “I’ve seen us play outstanding and come together as a team. I’ve seen us win one game, and the next lose by 16. We’ve got to find consistency and how to play together. After these losses, the girls aren’t happy. But we hope, that after each match and practice that they’re learning.”