Injuries fail to slow second-ranked NIC
Bret Taylor had a good feeling about his North Idaho College volleyball team heading into the 2006 season.
“We had six kids coming back from a team that was ranked No. 4 in the nation last year,” the NIC coach explained. “And then we added some marvelous recruits, too.”
That slick combination of tested veterans and talented newcomers has resulted in another terrific season for the Cardinals, who will carry a glossy 22-4 record and No. 2 ranking in the latest NJCAA Division I poll into Thursday night’s road match against Snow College.
Taylor is convinced this year’s team is mature enough to handle the pressure that comes with such a high national ranking – mainly because it realizes that “taking it one match at a time” is more than a simple coaching cliché.
“These kids understand the importance of doing just that and then playing your best every night out,” he said, “which has played a big part in our success.”
The Cardinals moved up from No. 3 in last week’s poll after knocking off No. 10 Salt Lake Community College on Saturday. They trail only top-ranked Western Nebraska CC (26-1), a team they split with during the Salt Lake CC Tournament earlier this month.
And the Cards have accomplished all of that despite battling a couple of recent injuries to key players.
Daidre Mendenhall, a sophomore middle blocker from Spokane, suffered a high ankle sprain in the loss to CSI, shortly after it was discovered that freshman Melissa Kravetz has a stress fracture in her foot.
“So when we played Salt Lake last week, we had two new middles (Caitlyn Free and Amanda Misa) in there,” Taylor said. “It was nice to see them get some more playing time, because it really helps our depth.”
Mendenhall is back practicing with the team, and Kravetz, according to Taylor, should be back by the end of October.
No break for WSU
Washington State (12-4), which opened Pacific-10 Conference play at home last week with a 12-2 record, suddenly finds itself 0-2 in league play after being swept by No. 6 Stanford and No. 8 California.
And things don’t get any easier for the Cougars, who travel to Los Angeles this week to take on another pair of nationally-ranked opponents in No. 5 Southern California and No. 3 UCLA.
The Trojans (13-0) and Bruins (15-0) are both unbeaten and share the top spot in the Pac-10 standings with 2-0 records.
Quick sets
Gonzaga (4-10), which opens West Coast Conference play at Pepperdine on Thursday, hasn’t played since dropping a 3-2 decision at Montana last Thursday. … Five Pacific-10 Conference teams – No. 3 UCLA, No. 4 Washington, No. 5 USC, No. 6 Stanford and No. 7 California – continued to be ranked among the top 25 in the American Volleyball Coaches Association poll. … Eastern Washington, 7-6 overall and 0-4 in the Big Sky Conference, will play four consecutive league road matches, starting with Thursday night’s showdown against Sacramento State.