TWIN FALLS — Even when the North Idaho College volleyball team was 9-11, the Cardinals didn’t hit the panic button.

Toward the end of the season, as the matches got bigger, so did their confidence.

In its final year in the Scenic West Athletic Conference, third-seeded NIC played spoiler, beating the second-seeded Salt Lake Bruins in straight sets on Saturday to qualify for the NJCAA tournament Nov. 19-21 at the Casper (Wyo.) Events Center.

Later Saturday, top-seeded Southern Idaho (31-3) swept NIC (20-14) in straight sets in the Region 18 championship.

“I’m so pumped to go to nationals,” second-year NIC coach Kelsey Stanley said. “It’s such a great experience for the girls to watch and play the best in the nation. I think we will do well there. We have played many teams in the top six in the nation and have taken them to five or beaten them. We just need to be confident and solid like we were today and it will be a fun weekend.”

Against Salt Lake, Brenna Meehan had 12 kills and nine digs and Brittany Gay had 38 assists and nine digs as the Cardinals, who lost both conference matches against the Bruins this season, swept Salt Lake 25-16, 25-20, 25-20 in the Region 18 semifinals to earn a berth to nationals. Penny Gwynn had 10 kills and nine digs and Hannah Christianson nine digs for NIC.

No Salt Lake (25-8) player finished in double digits in kills or digs.

“Everything went well for us against Salt Lake,” Stanley said. “The girls came out ready and focused. Our tempo was fast and consistent and Salt Lake was not able to shut us down. We played just how we needed too.”

Meehan and Penny Gwynn had 11 kills each for NIC in a 25-21, 25-23, 25-12 loss to Southern Idaho.

Gwynn had 13 digs and two aces, Gay 29 assists and Meehan nine digs for NIC against CSI.

NIC had won six straight matches before the loss to CSI in the championship.

“The girls have worked hard every day in practice for me,” Stanley said. “We kept telling them keep plugging away and work hard and it will pay off in the end. And it did.”

ALL-REGION 18 TOURNAMENT TEAM

Most Valuable Player — Tawnee Luafalemana, Southern Idaho.

Alexandra Espinosa, Southern Idaho; Sydnie Martindale, Snow; Jessica Quayle, Salt Lake; Brenna Meehan, North Idaho; Brittany Gay, North Idaho.