Playing in the toughest Region in the NWAC has provided the NIC Volleyball team with an uphill battle this season. Seemingly every game tested the defending East Region champs, and even though they finished with an amicable 23-11 record, the Cards needed to win the last two games of the season to clinch a playoff ticket.
They took to the home court for the final time on Friday, hosting the Yaks of Yakima Valley. With the pressure on, the Cards handily defeated their visitors, sweeping Yakima 3-0 on Sophomore Night. Hailee Etter led the way with 11 kills, and Kayla Neumann recorded provided eight kills of her own. Defensively, Kynzey Mitzel had fifteen digs to set up the offensive attack. The 25-12, 25-8, 25-13 win set up a do-or-die matchup at Treasure Valley on Sunday afternoon.
Sitting a game up on TVCC for four place in the East Region, the Cards were looking to simply survive and advance. NIC had beaten their opponent 3-1 a little over a month ago, and were looking to do the same thing on Sunday. A win and they would be in; a loss could put a major dent in their playoff hopes.
In Ontario, Oregon, the stars would need to show up for the Cards. That they did. Neumann showed why she won the East Region POY last season, showing out with 15 kills and ten digs in a huge 25-17, 26-28, 25-14, 27-25 victory. Etter and Chloe Knudson followed suit, recording nine and eight kills, respectively. In the dire moments, it was the team leaders who stepped up and willed the team to the postseason.
The fact that one of the top ranked squads had to basically survive to make the postseason shows how deep the East Region is this year. There can be positives in anything though, and the Cards are looking to build off that.
The Cardinals are still dealing with the injury bug and the team chemistry which showed to be a team strength a year ago, is an issue heading into postseason play which will begin this week in Tacoma, WA.
Round one play is scheduled to start on Thursday, but the opponent is not yet set. The Cards will look to exact retribution for last year’s disappointing playoff run and make this year the year they take home the NWAC Championship trophy.
