NIC ROUNDUP: Cardinals get back to fun, East Region title match

• VOLLEYBALL

COEUR d’ALENE — Something was off as North Idaho College took a 2-0 lead after the first two sets of Saturday’s opening round match in the Northwest Athletic Conference East Regional.

The scores were there, but something was missing.

“We just had to turn up our excitement and passion for volleyball,” said first-year NIC coach Brittany Tilleman, whose teams beat Everett 25-21, 25-17, 25-8 to advance to today’s championship match. “Everett wasn’t beating us in a physical sense. But we came out with an attitude to have fun and kill it. It was more of an attitude change than anything.” 

Rachael Stacey, a sophomore outside hitter from Capital High in Helena, Mont., had 12 kills, Post Falls sophomore Rylee Hartwig 11 kills, two blocks and sophomore Abigail Beaton of Chiawana High in Pasco 11 kills for the Cardinals.

“Our middles were just flying around and they couldn’t do anything there,” Tilleman said. “We hit .413 as a team, which is absolutely amazing. Our hitters stepped up and were finding the floor.”

Brooklyn Minden, a sophomore libero from Post Falls, had 15 digs, sophomore Omayra Valle of Puerto Rico 17 digs and freshman Grace Keisel of Mapleton, Utah, 14 digs. 

Freshman Karolyne Wolfgramm of West Valley City, Utah had 43 assists and one ace for NIC (29-1), which faces Highline in today’s championship match at 10 a.m. Highline (28-3), the second seed from the West Region, swept Lane in its opener.

“It’s going to be an exciting game,” Tilleman said. “They were co-regional champion, so it’s like having another regional champion in your bracket. We’re both big swinging teams. We’ve got to feed off the energy.”

• WOMEN'S BASKETBALL

North Idaho 73

Yavapai 59

TWIN FALLS — Addie Kiefer, a sophomore from Lakeland High, had 13 points and 16 rebounds for the Cardinals in a nonconference win over the Roughriders of Prescott, Ariz., at the College of Southern Idaho.

Kendall Pickford, a redshirt freshman from Lake City High, had 17 points and 11 rebounds for NIC (2-3), which led 43-32 at halftime.

“We came out with a great mindset and had some big-time performances,” NIC coach Nathan Covill said. “Addie and Kendall were huge and did a great job on the board for us.”

Deniece Ryan, a sophomore guard from Albuquerque, had 19 points, six rebounds and six assists for NIC.

“Deniece, she’s just a warrior,” Covill said. “We did some things good enough in the second half and she really spurred us in the second half. We were able to respond and get some stops.”

NIC hosts Elite Prep of Seattle next Saturday and Sunday.

Yavapai is 0-3.

NORTH IDAHO

Deniece Ryan 6-15 7-7 19, Maddie Williamson 6-11 2-2 14, Addie Kiefer 5-12 3-6 13, Faye Davis 0-5 0-0 0, Kendall Pickford 6-13 0-0 17, Anna Serret 0-0 0-0 0, Kalysta Troman 0-1 0-0 0, Diana Morales 1-1 1-2 3, Iratxe Amorrotu 1-5 4-4 7. Totals 25-63 17-21 73.

YAVAPAI

Olivia Arvallo 2-15 0-0 4, Kishyah Anderson 7-16 1-2 15, Saydee Allred 4-14 2-2 13, Blu Lansing 1-1 2-2 4, Taylor Brock 6-11 1-4 13, Tinaya Parrish 2-4 0-0 4, Courtnenay Lee 0-0 0-0 0, Ellie Bennett 2-5 0-0 4, Sophia Munoz 1-1 0-0 2, Wynter Huskie 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 25-68 6-10 59.

North Idaho    20    23    20    10    —    73

Yavapai    15    17    13    14    —    59

3-point goals — NIC 6-19 (Ryan 0-3, Kiefer 0-1, Pickford 5-10, Troman 0-1, Amorrotu 1-4), Yav 3-21 (Arvallo 0-2, Anderson 0-3, Allred 3-10, Parrish 0-2, Bennett 0-3, Huskie 0-1). Rebounds — NIC 51 (Kiefer 16), Yav 34 (Brock 14). Assists — NIC 12 (Ryan 6), Yav 10 (Anderson 5). Team fouls — NIC 13, Yav 17. Fouled out — none.

• WRESTLING

Poe-Hatten finishes third

at Grand View Open

GRIMES, Iowa — North Idaho College’s Noah Poe-Hatten, a freshman from Flathead High in Kalispell, Mont., beat Rocco D’Ascoli of Ottawa by an 8-2 decision to finish third at 184 pounds in the Grand View Open at the Ignit Sports and Fitness Center.

Bradley Whitwright, a sophomore from Cheyenne, Wyo., was fifth at 197 for NIC, which travels to the University of Providence in Great Falls, Mont., on Thursday.