TWIN FALLS — Sophomore Brenna Meehan had 15 kills and 25 digs for the third-seeded North Idaho College volleyball team beat the sixth-seeded Utah State-Eastern Golden Eagles 25-15, 25-18, 23-25, 25-18 in the opening round of the Region 18 tournament on Friday on the campus of the College of Southern Idaho.

Brittany Gay had 49 assists and 15 digs for NIC (19-13), which faces second seed Salt Lake (25-7) today at 11 a.m. PST in the semifinals. That winner advances to the championship match at 4 p.m., and also qualifies for the NJCAA tournament Nov. 18-20 in Casper, Wyo.

“Brenna had an outstanding game,” NIC coach Kelsey Stanley said. “She definitely was a key player for us today. Brittany Gay running the offense for us did an awesome job.”

Penny Gwynn had 15 kills and 14 digs, Brooke Bell nine kills and Matilda Altin eight kills and six block assists for NIC.

Kayla Newman had 13 kills and 15 digs for Utah State-Eastern, which finishes 12-18.

REGION 18 VOLLEYBALL

TOURNAMENT

at the College of Southern Idaho

Times PST

Friday

Snow d. Colorado Northwestern 25-16, 17-25, 25-11, 25-15.

North Idaho d. Utah State-Eastern 25-15, 25-18, 23-25, 25-18.

Salt Lake d. Southern Nevada 25-19, 25-16, 25-13.

Saturday

Match 4 — No. 1 Southern Idaho (29-3) vs. No. 4 Snow (12-17), 9 a.m. (winner qualifies for nationals)

Match 5 — No. 3 North Idaho (19-13) vs. No. 2 Salt Lake (25-7), 11 (winner qualifies for nationals)

Match 6 — Winner Match 4 vs. Winner Match 5, 4 p.m. (Region 18 championship match)

All REGION 18 VOLLEYBALL

Coach of the Year — Chris Vergnaud, Colorado Northwestern.

First team

Tawnee Luafalemana, Southern Idaho (Player of the Year); Jessica Quayle, Salt Lake; Brenna Meehan, North Idaho; Alycia Wodke, Southern Idaho; Brighton Taylor, Salt Lake; Rachel Davis, Salt Lake; Sydnie Martindale, Snow (Libero of the Year).

Second team

Paige Eyring, Utah State-Eastern; Regan Harr, Southern Idaho; Rylee Cate, Snow; Penny Gwynn, North Idaho; Gracie Borges, Colorado Northwestern; Andrea Brady, Salt Lake. Liberos: Hannah Christianson, North Idaho; Luana Thompson, Southern Idaho.

Honorable mention

Alexandra Espinosa, Southern Idaho; Larissa Dos Santos, Southern Idaho; Jadan Ross, North Idaho; Brooke Bell, North Idaho; Vanessa Pawlak, Utah State-Eastern; JoHanna Alvarez-Thompson, Southern Nevada; Selena Foster, Colorado Northwestern; Miranda Miller, Colorado Northwestern; Quincy Thacker, Snow.