North Idaho volleyball, men’s soccer teams receive good news

The North Idaho College volleyball and men’s soccer teams didn’t play a match Wednesday, but they came up winners anyway.

NIC volleyball learned it will host the Region 18A Tournament when College of Southern Idaho was put on probation by the NJCAA.

The Golden Eagles, 40-3 and ranked No. 3 nationally, were penalized for exceeding the limit of international players on scholarship, Cardinals athletic director Al Williams said. The NJCAA denied CSI’s appeal on Wednesday.

Instead of the tournament being played in Twin Falls, it will be held at NIC without CSI, which has won seven of the last 11 national championships. Snow (2-8 SWAC) will play Eastern Utah (0-10) at 10 a.m. NIC (4-6) will take on the Snow-Eastern Utah winner at 4:30 p.m. for a berth to the NJCAA Tournament. The Cardinals have never advanced to nationals.

“The girls are pretty excited,” NIC coach Bret Taylor said. “We thought we were going to travel, and then it was going back and forth, so this is good news. We’re at home and we only have to play one match.”

It makes for a busy Saturday at Christianson Gym. NIC’s all-class men’s basketball reunion game is at 1 p.m. and the NIC men’s basketball team faces the Northwest All-Stars at 7:30 p.m.

NIC men’s soccer, which checked in its gear a week ago after concluding the regular season in fifth place in the Northwest Athletic Association of Community Colleges Northeast Division, is back in business. Wenatchee Valley, which finished fourth, was banned from the NWAACC Tournament, apparently for using an ineligible player during the season, Cardinals coach Dan Hogan said.

That elevates the Cardinals to fourth place and the final Northeast Division playoff spot. NIC (8-6-2 NWAACC) will travel to Clark College (17-1-2), the top seed from the Southwest Division, for a 1 p.m. match Saturday in Vancouver, Wash.

“I had just gone home to work on some stuff and it was probably 3:15 when Al called,” coach Dan Hogan said.

“He asked me if my guys were going to be out of town this weekend. I had heard about volleyball and I was thinking maybe they needed some of our guys to work that. Next thing I know he’s telling me, ‘You get to travel to Vancouver.’

“We get another chance. This team is capable of playing with the best. We played Highline, the second-place team in the Southwest, and tied them in a preseason match. Clark will be a tough challenge.”

Hogan met with his team and put the players through a light workout late Wednesday.

In the volleyball postseason, Region 18 is divided into 18A and 18B. In Region 18B, No. 7-ranked Salt Lake beat No. 18 Dixie earlier this week. The Bruins face No. 4 Arizona Western in Yuma, Ariz., for an NJCAA berth.

CSI will have to forfeit matches in which it used the ineligible player and faces restrictions on international recruiting the next two seasons. NJCAA rules permit three international players to be on scholarship.

“We have to be prepared to play and we’ll probably play Snow,” Taylor said. “We’ve gone five games and beat them and four games and beat them. They’re always right there with us.”

The day will surely go down as one of the strangest in Williams’ 15 months as A.D.

“I’m just amazed,” he said. “I hate to see anyone go on probation, but the NJCAA definitely showed schools that things aren’t going to be tolerated if they’re not following the rules.”