WEST PLAINS, Mo. - The seventh-seeded North Idaho Cardinals made 20 hitting errors in three games as they fell to 10th-seeded College of Central Florida 27-25, 28-26, 25-12 in the opening round of the NJCAA volleyball tournament on Thursday at the West Plains Civic Center.

"You can't make that many errors and expect to win," first-year NIC coach Kandice Kelly said. "If you take away those mistakes, it's a different match. But we knew they weren't going to make those mistakes and we made them for them."

Yang Yang had 10 kills and four blocks for NIC (22-10), which faces 15th-seeded Western Texas College today at 8 a.m. PST in a loser-out match. The match will be webcast live at www.ihigh.com/njcaatv/ and www.psblive.com.

NIC took a 22-16 lead in the second game, but were unable to hold the lead as Central Florida rallied for a 28-26 win.

"We had our chances to swing for game points, but couldn't pull through to win it," Kelly said. "We had the momentum and made every error possible. The momentum shifted and they pulled away.”

Sierra Pancho had 18 digs, Mariah Smith 12 digs and 7 kills, Emily Sarff 12 digs and Janele Vogt seven kills for NIC.

NIC’s highest possible finish is ninth.

“Hopefully we’ve got the chance to end the season on a high note,” Kelly said. “It’s a national tournament. Every team we play is going to be good and we’re going to have to earn every point we get.”

If NIC wins this morning, the Cardinals would play either 14th seed Barton Community College or 11th seed Temple College at 2:30 p.m. PST.