CASPER, Wyo. - From unranked in the NJCAA preaseason poll to finishing sixth at nationals, it was quite the ride for the North Idaho College volleyball team in coach Miles Kydd's first year with the program.

NIC, which entered the NJCAA tournament as the No. 9 seed, lost to third-seeded Western Nebraska 25-22, 20-25, 25-17, 23-25, 15-9 in the fifth-place match in the NJCAA tournament on Saturday afternoon at the Casper Events Center.

The Cardinals finished sixth.

"It was a good match," Kydd said. "I don't think our hitting percentage (.077) really showed how well we played, but the girls played pretty well. We competed with them for sure. It could have been more lopsided, but we also could have won that match as well."

Larissa Claassen had 14 kills and 22 digs, Anyssa Matheson 13 kills, LeeNell Hernandez 11 digs and

Russia Robinson 20 digs for NIC, which finishes 18-12.

"Overall, I'm pretty satisfied with how the season ended," Robinson said. "I would have liked to have finished fifth in the nation, but it really says something about this team and us getting to nationals twice."

Robinson finished with 87 digs in the tournament and was named to the all-tournament team.

"It's exciting," Robinson said. "I couldn't have done it without my teammates. The fact I have a really good group of girls around me has something to do with it. Myles is a great coach, I've never had a coach that puts in so much time to make us better."

After beating No. 8 seed Arizona Western on Thursday, NIC lost to top-seed Blinn and beat No. 4 seed Iowa Western in the tournament.

"You've got to give credit to the girls," Kydd said. "Our serve receive was great in the tournament. Allison (Meehan) had a great final month and Russia was the best libero at the tournament. The girls really developed skill wise and gave ourselves a chance and didn't get blown out."

In the third-fourth place match, fifth-seeded Hillsbourgh defeated sixth-seed Salt Lake 17-25, 23-25, 25-21, 25-19, 15-3 as the Bruins (24-8) fourth.

Blinn defeated Tyler 26-24, 25-27, 25-12, 26-24 in the championship match.

ALL-NJCAA TOURNAMENT TEAM

MVP - Bruna Evangelista, middle blocker, Blinn

Coach of the tournament - Erin Mellinger, Blinn

Carol Grasso, outside hitter, Salt Lake; Russia Robinson, defensive specialist, North Idaho; Aly Dawson, outside hitter, Iowa Western; Brittney Brown, middle blocker, Central Florida; Andrea Tauai, outside hitter, Hillsborough; Ana Jakovljevic, libero, Western Nebraska; Rebecca Reeve, right side hitter, Blinn; Trinity Alualu, outside hitter, Blinn; Abby Mackey, outside hitter, Tyler; Morgan Lewis, middle hitter, Tyler; Kaitlyn Brooks, setter, Tyler.