ROCK SPRINGS – The Western Wyoming volleyball squad wrapped up the regular season with two big conference wins over Northwest and Casper.
On Oct. 25, the Mustangs traveled to Northwest where the faced the top team in the Region IX North Conference. The Trappers entered undefeated in conference play while the only conference loss for Western was from Northwest.
The Trappers jumped out quick on the Mustangs as they took the first set, 25-14. From there, all the sets were very close. Western took the next two games by the same score, 25-23. The fourth game needed a little extra play as the Trappers were able to even the match with a 26-24 win.
The fifth game would be one of the best sets in all of Region IX play this season. Both teams battled to get to the 15 point mark first. Soon, both teams were well past that. Western was able to get key points late and wore down Northwest for the 23-21 win to take the match three games to two.
Lauryn Dela Cruz was big at the net for the Mustangs as she led the team with 16 kills. Caroline Hansen had 14 kills while Cassidee Lish added 13 kills. Amber Hillestad finished with 32 assists while Alexa Goulding added 21 assists.
Defensively, Ashley Hill had 22 digs followed by Cruz who finished with 19. Hillestad and Lish also finished with double-digit digs with Hillestad finishing with 13 and Lish with 12. Kortney Freeland led the team in blocks with nine while Jenna Sawatzki added six.
After the big win at Northwest, the team traveled to Twin Falls, Idaho, for another shot at third ranked College of Southern Idaho in a non-conference match. Riding the momentum of the Northwest win, the Mustangs jumped out quick and controlled the first set 25-16. After that it was all CSI as they took the next three sets, 25-17, 25-10 and 25-23.
Lish was the only Mustang with double-digit kills as she finished with 12. Hansen and Cruz each had nine kills. Hillestad led the team in assists with 20 while also finishing with 11 digs. Cruz had a team high 18 digs while Hill added 17. As a team, Western had 25 hitting errors which hurt them in the end.
The ladies had to put the CSI loss behind them as they turned around for a match against rival Casper in the final regular season game. The Mustangs dropped a close first set 25-23 but rebounded to win the second 25-23. From there it was all Western as they took the final two sets, 25-19 and 25-20, to end the regular season with a win.
The Mustangs finished the regular season 23-9 and 11-1 in conference play. They will now wait for the outcomes of the final games on Friday. Laramie will take on Northwest while Eastern will battle Sheridan to wrap up the regular season in Region IX North.
In a side note, Western moved up a spot in the national ranking as they are now no. 8. The Region IX North Tournament starts on Nov. 5 in Casper.
Region IX North Standings
(conference first, overall second)
1 Western Wyoming, 11-1, 23-9
2 Northwest, 9-1, 23-8
3 Casper, 5-5, 17-15
4 Central, 5-6, 21-10
5 Sheridan, 3-6, 17-11
6 Laramie County, 2-6, 22-10
7 Eastern, 0-9, 6-26
National Rankings
1 Iowa Western Community College 37-1
2 Blinn College 31-1
3 Tyler Junior College 31-2
4 College of Southern Idaho 27-2
5 Miami Dade College 24-3
6 Salt Lake Community College 18-8
7 Western Nebraska Community College 24-7
8 Western Wyoming Community College 23-9
9 State College of Florida, Manatee-Sarasota 23-4
10 Snow College 17-6
11 Arizona Western College 17-5
12 College of Central Florida 25-8
13 Northwest College 23-8
14 Santa Fe College 28-4
15 Indian Hills Community College 29-4
16 Missouri State University – West Plains 23-12
17 Monroe College 34-4
18 North Central Texas College 24-8
19 Panola College 23-5
20 Trinity Valley Community College 28-7
