NIC ROUNDUP: Cardinals fall in four at CSI; soccer ousted from Region 18 tourney

• VOLLEYBALL

TWIN FALLS — Morgan Claus, a sophomore from Moscow High, had 12 kills and 13 digs for North Idaho College, but the host College of Southern Idaho captured the fourth and final seed to the Region 18 Tournament with a 25-23, 25-18, 24-26, 25-19 win on Thursday. 

NIC (8-13, 3-7 SWAC) entered the match tied with CSI (9-16, 4-6) for the final playoff spot as only the top four teams in the conference advance to next week’s Region 18 Tournament, to be held at Utah State-Eastern in Price, Utah. 

NIC beat CSI in four sets 25-23, 18-25, 25-23, 25-18 to open conference play on Sept. 28 in Coeur d’Alene. 

Jordyn Williams, a freshman from Mt. Spokane High, had 10 kills and nine digs, freshman Rylie Dolven 32 assists and freshman Annie Lewis five blocks for NIC. 

Mina Benucci had 20 kills for CSI, which faces conference champion Utah State-Eastern in the opening round next Wednesday, with the championship match scheduled for Thursday. Snow and Salt Lake will play in the other semifinal.

• MEN'S SOCCER

Snow 1 

North Idaho 0 

TAYLORSVILLE, Utah — The third-seeded Cardinals run in the Region 18 Championships was halted by the second-seeded Badgers in a semifinal match at Salt Lake Community College. 

Max Mayer scored on an assist from Ryan Henry in the 54th minute for Snow (12-3-2), which entered the match ranked 17th in this week’s NJCAA poll. 

“It was a tough break,” said second-year NIC coach Brad Williams said. “We missed some opportunities to shoot and didn’t. We had some guys we thought would show up and they didn’t. You’ve got to be brave to win games, and it felt at times, we weren’t brave enough to take the shot.” 

NIC (13-4-3) was 18th in the poll this week. 

Snow will face top-seeded Salt Lake (16-0-1), a 4-0 winner over fourth-seeded Utah State-Eastern (7-8-3) on Saturday in the championship match. The winner will host the winner of this Saturday’s match between Yavapai and Arizona Western next Saturday to determine the automatic berth to the NJCAA Tournament starting Nov. 17 at Wichita, Kan. 

Seedings for the NJCAA Tournament will be announced on Nov. 12, with the top 12 teams in the nation advancing. 

“For us, it’s a very outside chance,” Williams said. “I think it will be very difficult to get an at-large. If we’d been here two or three years, maybe. But they’re probably not going to accept us as one of the top teams in the country.” 

First half — none. Second half — 1, Snow, Max Mayer (Ryan Henry), 54:14.  

Shots on goal — NIC 3, Snow 3. 

Saves — NIC, David Ochoa 1, Kael McGowan 1; Snow, Mathias Christensen 3. 

• WOMEN'S SOCCER

Snow 3 

North Idaho 0 

TAYLORSVILLE, Utah — The third-seeded Cardinals, in their first season back in the NJCAA since the 2015 season, fell to the second-seeded Badgers in a semifinal match at Salt Lake Community College, finishing their season 7-8-3. 

“We played really well defensively in the first half,” said fifth-year NIC coach Kellsi Parson, who was missing three starters due to injury. “We got a little tired in the second half and everything kind of wore on us. If we had our full starting lineup, we could have given them a better game. But injuries were big for us this year.” 

Snow (15-1-2) will face top-seeded Salt Lake (15-2-0), a 4-1 winner over fourth-seeded Colorado Northwestern, in Saturday’s championship match. 

“Snow’s a good team and could make a run in the national tournament,” Parson said. “They caught us on a day when we didn’t have everyone. And if we did, it would have been a better game.” 

First half — none. Second half — 1, Snow, Megan Hanson (unassisted), 52:47. 2, Snow, Mirabel Shellabarger (unassisted), 69:23. 3, Snow, Bailee Ballard (unassisted), 80:05. 

Shots on goal — NIC 2, Snow 13. 

Saves — NIC, Serena Hand 10; Snow, Hayley Ogden 2.