COEUR d’ALENE — Wednesday night’s Northwest Athletic Conference East match was the tale of two teams headed in opposite directions.

North Idaho College (14-12, 9-2 NWAC East) broke out of a tie for second with a 25-8, 25-13, 25-10 victory over Big Bend at Christianson Gym in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho.

Maddy Powers, a 5-foot-9, outside hitter finished with six kills and an ace to lead the predominantly freshman Vikings (1-25, 0-10 NWAC East). Nelly Korneychuk had three kills three blocks. Jacinda Fansher and Lindsay Sorensen had three kills apiece for Big Bend, which finished with just 18 kills on the night.

Halle Hess had a monster night for the Cardinals, knocking down 14 kills to finish with a hitting percentage of .480. Zoia Basargin was the other big banger for North Idaho, finishing with nine kills and a hitting percentage of .643.

The Vikings closed to 19-7 in the first game on a kill by Powers, but that’s as close as they would get. The second game was their most successful on the night. They closed to 9-6 early in the set with another Powers kill and made it 12-8. But again, the Cardinals spread the gap with a 9-3 run to put Big Bend away, then run the match out with a third and decisive set for their ninth NWAC victory of the season to stay within reach of NWAC East-leading Walla Walla.

Big Bend hosts Walla-Walla (22-6, 10-0) on Friday.

Rodney Harwood can be reached at 509-765-4561 ext. 111 or businessag@columbiabasinherald.com.