Tipping the ball, sophomore Spencer Smiley-Schultz flies high at the first home game.
The NIC volleyball team (13-7 overall, 2-1 conference play) came back from a 2-0 deficit to beat No. 3 College of Southern Idaho (CSI) in five sets on Saturday at Christianson gymnasium.
NIC lost the first two sets 25-23 and 25-18 before rebounding to claim the next three 26-24, 25-15 and 15-11.
“We got beat in five in Salt Lake City,” said freshman setter Sierra Pancho. “We won the first two, and that wasn’t going to happen again.”
Pancho led the way with 52 assists, while Yang contributed 20 kills in the match. Janele Vogt added 12 kills.
The NIC Volleyball team opened Scenic West Athletic Conference play on the road losing to Salt Lake Community College and beating Snow College on Sept. 23 and 24.
No. 7 Salt Lake defeated the Lady Cardinals in five sets with scores of 25-22, 25-15, 17-25, 24-26 and 15-10. Sierra Pancho led the team with 48 assists. Yang Yang added 25 kills, 16 digs, five blocks and an ace. Janele Vogt had 15 kills and three blocks and Emily Sarff contributed with 18 digs.
“We were pumped up early,” said coach Kandice Kelly. “We didn’t make very many errors, and they made a lot of errors, but they made adjustments later in the game.”
NIC then traveled to Ephraim, Utah to face Snow College. The Lady Cardinals beat the Badgers in five sets with scores of 19-25, 25-21, 25-18, 25-27 and 16-14.
Previously, the North Idaho College volleyball team was victorious in three out of their four matches at the second College of Southern Idaho (CSI) tournament of the season on September 16 and 17.
In the Lady Cardinals first match, they upset fourth-ranked Miami Dade by sweeping them in three sets with scores of 25-15, 25-18 and 25-21.
“We weren’t going to out power them, so we tipped,” head coach Kandice Kelly said. “The girls played hard and had a lot of fun.”
Sierra Pancho led the team with 25 assists, while Yang contributed 15 kills and eight digs. Sabrina Ewing added seven kills and freshman outside hitter Kendall Bergsten, out of Phoenix, Ariz., had four aces.
The Lady Cardinals then faced SWAC rival and seventh-ranked Salt Lake Community College. NIC was defeated in four sets with scores of 14-25, 27-25, 20-25 and 18-25.
“Salt Lake is a good team,” Kelly said. “You have to give them credit. We tried to out power them and they double and triple blocked us.”
Pancho led the team in assists with 32 and also contributed with 13 digs. Yang had 14 kills and four blocks and Janele Vogt capitalized on every kill attempt finishing 10 for 10.
The next day, NIC went on to beat number 12 in the nation Barton Community College of Great Bend, Kan. NIC lost the first set 23-25, but went on to win the next three 25-14, 25-12 and 25-14.
Pancho was the team leader with 42 assists. Yang led the Lady Cardinals with 17 kills, and Vogt was right behind her with 15. Brooklyn Bradbury finished with 15 digs to lead the team and Emily Sarff added 12.
Later in the day, NIC beat Yavapai Community College from Prescott, Ariz. in three sets with scores of 25-18, 25-11 and 25-23. Pancho led the Lady Cardinals with 37 assists, while Yang filled the stat sheet with 18 kills, four blocks and eight digs. Mariah Smith had 12 kills and 12 digs and Sarff added 15 digs.
“Our serving is getting better, and we’re getting more consistent,” said Kelly.
