Women's Volleyball | 08.19.2021

LEWISTON, Idaho – Warrior Volleyball will begin its next chapter this season when the Cascade Collegiate Conference returns to full operation for the 2021 season. Last season, LC State competed in the conference's modified spring schedule and faced just seven of the conference's 11 other volleyball teams. This year, the Warriors are eager to take on the Cascade Conference.
 
LC State was picked to finish seventh in the Cascade in the conference's preseason poll. Eastern Oregon, who finished with a 14-0 record in conference play, topped the rankings.
 
Shaun Pohlman will begin his fourth year at the helm of Lewis-Clark State Volleyball. This season, he will be aided by Drew Choules in her first season as the team's assistant coach.
 
"Competing in the Cascade Conference is a great gauge to how a team stacks up on a national level," Pohlman said. "There are two traditional top-10 teams, a top-15 team and one or two top-25 teams in addition to two others receiving votes or in the conversation. If you can be in the top six in this conference, you are doing well and there are maybe one or two other conferences where that holds true in the NAIA. That excites me. My entire career has been finding the benchmark and reaching it. We got a small glimpse of the conference last year during a dark time and are hoping for a normal year."
 
The Warriors open the 2021 season in Huntington, Ind. at the Forester Invitational. They will take on Goshen (Ind.) and Calumet College of St. Joseph (Ind.) on Aug. 20, before wrapping up the tournament with host Huntington (Ind.) and Saint Ambrose (Iowa) on Aug. 21. The team will then travel to Arizona for the Firestorm Volleyball Classic where it will face Embry-Riddle (Ariz.), Valley City State (N.D.), MSU-Northern and Arizona Christian on Aug. 27-28.
 
"We wanted to look for competition on this weekend in the Midwest since we see and know so many of the teams on the west side of the country," Pohlman said. "There wasn't much available at the time, but we were grateful to get into the Huntington tournament. It will be nice to get out there and play some teams we don't know a lot about before getting over to Phoenix. These two weeks will help shape our team and get us battle tested and ready to play conference."
 
CCC play will begin on Sept. 3 and 4 when the Warriors host No. 25 Southern Oregon and Oregon Tech, respectively, in the Activity Center. Conference matches will follow a schedule of Friday at 7 p.m. and Saturday at 5 p.m. (local time) both at home and on the road. Three of the Cascade's teams will open the season in the nation's top 25, with SOU, a perennial powerhouse and consistent top-10 team, checking in at No. 25 after not competing last season. Corban, the defending CCC Tournament Champion, is ranked No. 15 and the defending regular season champs, Eastern Oregon, are No. 6. EOU advanced to the National Quarterfinal last season.
 
The Warriors return AVCA First-Team All-West Region and First-Team All-Cascade Conference middle blocker Jada Wyms and all-conference honorable mention setter Hannah Martinez. First-team all-conference outside hitter Chloe Emory will sit out the year due to injury.
 
Wyms was the LC State leader in attack percentage (.332), the second-highest in the CCC. She finished the season third on the team in kills (114), kills per set (3.17), and in points (148.0). The transfer from Western Wyoming CC led the Warriors at the net with 49 blocks including five solo blocks. She appeared in all 14 matches.
 
As a true freshman, Martinez earned a spot on the All-Cascade Conference Honorable Mention team after stepping into a big role as one of the team's setters. She led the Warriors in assists with 280 and was fourth in the CCC in assists per set (5.8) while splitting time in the position. She also dumped 15 kills over the net, had 10 aces and assisted on seven blocks. Martinez picked up 55 digs and appeared in all 14 matches. She was one of two freshmen to earn conference honors.
 
LC State also returns setter Jess Ruffing in her final year of eligibility. The senior dished out 197 assists last season for 4.7 per set. Tori Edwards, an All-American in 2019, is coming off a 2020 in which she led the team in points (157.5) and was second in kills (127). Kenzie Dean returns as the Warriors' leading defender with 4.52 digs per set last season.
 
The Warriors added a slew of talent and depth over the summer break, following last year's injury-riddled season.
 
All but one of LC's six outside hitters are new to the program, including UNLV (NCAA DI) transfer Cassidy Nelson. Prior to her time with the Rebels, Nelson was an All-American at Laramie County CC. International student-athletes Grecia Ung Enriquez (Sonora, Mexico) and Stavroula Papazoglou (Thessaloniki, Greece) will add depth at the outside hitter position as well. Ung Enriquez has competed at the international level, while Papazoglou brings collegiate experience as a transfer from NJCAA top-5 program Odessa College.
 
Setter Lexi Trowbridge also brings collegiate experience, having played at Black Hills State and Eastern Wyoming College. At Eastern Wyoming College, the senior totaled 1,328 assists, 494 digs and 75 aces in her two seasons.
 
Three freshmen make up the rest of the incoming class of Warriors. Jennah Carpenter, a two-sport athlete who will also compete for the track and field team, is a Lewiston native. She, along with Eugene, Ore.'s Josie Peters are both outsides. Middle blocker Katie Rainville will round out the middle blocker position after helping Chelan HS to a State title.
 
"I like our roster both on paper and in person," Pohlman explained. "The team's chemistry is really good and we seem to be all on the same page. The time spent doing the retreat is to thank for that because it allowed us to take time to lay out a plan for the season and get us all on the same page. It will come down to health and execution, so we are going to be diligent in our approach to practices and training. Drew (Choules) is also an expert when it comes to scouting so we will utilize her expertise to be well prepared against opponents. We need to take the next two weeks to figure us out first."
 
The Warriors open the season on Friday, Aug. 20, at the Forester Invitational. Only the match against host Huntington (Ind.) will be live streamed, but all four matches will have live stats.
 
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