NWC topples Temple

Complete domination.

The Northwest College Trappers snapped a five-match losing skid at the national tournament with a commanding 25-21, 25-14, 25-20 victory over Temple College of Texas on Friday morning to remain alive in the 2009 NJCAA National Volleyball Tournament in Council Bluffs, Iowa. Save for a couple of points early in the third game, the Trappers led wire-to-wire throughout their morning win.

NWC scored the first four points in game 1 and never allowed Temple closer than two on the scoreboard from that point forward. The Leopards managed to make life interesting by mounting a late charge to trim the gap from 22-16 back to 22-20, but could get no closer.

The Trappers followed the same early script in game 2, again tallying the first four points. This time, Temple found no recovery. Northwest controlled every facet of activity on the court in building a 20-8 lead before a late five-point rally by Temple gave the game a deceptively closer margin.

Game 3 saw Temple strike first, but the Leopards never were ahead by more than two points in the early going. The Trappers took the lead for good at 12-11 and ended the game scoring six of the final eight points to claim victory and remain alive at the national tournament.

Northwest College plays again at 3:30 p.m. today. The Trappers will face another Texas foe in San Jacinto-Central out of Houston. NWC will be one of 12 teams remaining in the national tournament for that contest.

Net Notes
* Temple College was one of only two teams at the 2009 national tournament to boast a roster comprised of players solely from the school's home state. Alabama's Wallace State was the other such team, and suffered a similar fate in being eliminated from the national tournament field after falling 3-0 to San Jacinto this morning.

* While the Trappers and San Jacinto-Central Ravens haven't played each other this season, there should at least be a degree of familiarity when the teams face off roughly six hours from now. Both schools were part of the tournament field at Miami-Dade last month, but played in opposite pools.

* The Trappers demonstrated a balanced attack in yesterday's loss to West Plains. Irelis Ilarraza finished with 15 kills to lead the offense, but Northwest added 13 from Paula Barros, 10 from Katie Gregg, nine from Randi McInerney and eight from Mayara Conilho. NWC had an impressive .241 attack percentage in the contest.