WEST PLAINS, Mo. - After having their national title hopes dashed Thursday, North Idaho College volleyball coach Kandice Kelly stressed to her team to have fun for the remainder of their run at the NJCAA tournament.

It worked.

The seventh-seeded Cardinals beat 11th-seeded Temple College 25-22, 25-19, 18-25, 25-23 on Friday to advance to the ninth-place match against No. 12 Mineral Area College (Mo.) today at 8 a.m. PST. Earlier, North Idaho (24-10) fought off elimination with a 25-19, 25-15, 26-24 win over Western Texas in the early match at the West Plains Civic Center.

"I think we just settled down and had some fun," Kelly said. "All the games today were fairly close. We just played a lot more relaxed. Nobody had played at nationals until yesterday and those games could have gone either way yesterday. If we come home with a top- 10 finish, we'll be happy."

Freshman Sierra Pancho had 22 assists, Emily Sarff 11 digs, Yang Yang 13 kills and six blocks, Mariah Smith 11 digs and Shelby Lawson five blocks for NIC against Western Texas.

Yang had 11 kills, Smith 11 kills and 10 digs, Pancho 25 assists and Sarff two aces for NIC against Temple College.

"We're excited for tomorrow," Kelly said. "We've got nothing to lose. We're here to play volleyball. We want to go out strong and end on a good note with no regrets."

at Missouri State University, West Plains, Mo.

Times PST

Friday

Second round

Temple College d. Barton County 25-23, 25-17, 25-22

North Idaho d. Western Texas 25-16, 25-15, 26-24

Miami-Dade d. Gadsden State 22-25, 25-18, 25-23, 25-20

Mineral Area d. Wallace State-Hanceville 20-25, 25-16, 25-22, 25-23

Semifinals

Iowa Western d. Central Florida 25-23, 25-22, 25-20

Southern Idaho d. Eastern Arizona 23-25, 19-25, 25-22, 25-18, 15-7

North Idaho d. Temple College 25-22, 25-19, 18-25, 25-23

Mineral Area d. Miami-Dade 28-26, 25-22, 17-25, 25-23

Western Wyoming d. Western Nebraska 24-26, 25-19, 25-16, 25-18

Blinn College d. San Jacinto 27-25, 25-17, 18-25, 25-22

Championship

Match 23 - No. 7 North Idaho (24-10) vs. No. 12 Mineral Area (35-6), 8 a.m. (ninth place)

Match 24 - No. 10 Central Florida (41-7) vs. No. 8 Eastern Arizona (29-5), 10 (seventh place)

Match 25 - No. 6 Iowa Western (44-8) vs. No. 5 Southern Idaho (24-11), noon (fifth place)

Match 26 - No. 2 Western Nebraska (40-2) vs. No. 4 San Jacinto (33-3), 2:30 p.m. (third place)

Match 27 - No. 3 Western Wyoming (39-2) vs. No. 1 Blinn College (37-0), 4:30 (national championship match)