Matt Nuehring
Staff Reporter

Besides winning, sophomore Krystal Lien said she feels that playing as a team and having fun are the most important aspects of volleyball success at NIACC.

During this season, Lien has earned some impressive stats which include 25 kills, 93 digs and a stellar 98% serving efficiency.

"The reason I came to NIACC, is that it's close to home and my sister played volleyball, basketball and softball here," Lien said.

Her coaches said they feel that Lien has made a substantial contribution to the team this season.

"Krystal is a good all around player, she plays full rotation, she is a good passer, and her serving is awesome," Jill Gerdes, NIACC assistant volleyball coach, said.

Head coach Rachel McGuire said that Lien's work ethic is evident in almost everything she does.

"She brings hard work. She is a motivator, and when we run our conditioning pack, she's always at the front of the pack," McGuire said. "Her mile time is usually under seven minutes, which gets others to push harder to get done quicker."

Lien has had a number of strong performances this season.

Against Fort Dodge, Lien had 18 digs and was 21-of-21 serving with three aces.

While, Lien said she has enjoyed her time playing volleyball, she said no one moment stands out in her career with the Trojans.

Lien said she considers every moment she gets on the court to be a great moment.

She said her main goals for the team are to win each game and make it to the national tournament.

In addition, Lien said she hopes to get better statistics as a personal goal.

"We would really like to win more games this year and also play as a team with the incoming freshman," Lien said.

Lien said her goals for herself would be to become a better outside hitter and have a serving average of about 85% on the season.

Lien lists her strengths as serving and passing and she said she would like to improve on her hitting.

Lien had some impressive stats from last year during her freshman season that included 149 kills, averageing three kills a game, and 567 total attacks.

She also had 44 service aces, which was 2nd on the NIACC squad, and 533 aces to end the year. In addition to her statistical contributions, Lien said she hopes that she brings leadership to the team.

Her teammates definitely believe she does.

"Krystal is a positive team player, very consistent with serving and hitting and she helps keep the team focused," Amy Ask, her freshman teammate, said.

Lien said her future plans include transferring to a four-year university.

However, she said she will miss her teammates and just playing the game after NIACC. Gerdes said the team and coaches enjoy having Lien on the squad.

"Krystal is fun, she's a team player, she works well with others, she has a good attitude and she is a hard worker," Gerdes said.

Rob Burns
Staff Reporter
The North Iowa town of Northwood has a population of approximately 1200 people and two of those people play football for NIACC.

Those two individuals include 6-2, 253lb. sophomore kicker Travis Avelar and 6-4, 265lb. freshman offensive lineman Gabe Vargas.

One of the reasons that Vargas said he came to NIAAC was because he knew Avelar and he said he felt that would help make his transition to college ball easier.

"It made it easier to make friends and know people because Travis already knew people," Vargas said.

Vargas also said the adjustment of coming from 1A football was a major change for him. "The game is a lot more intense and everyone is your size and you're not the biggest guy any more," Vargas said about playing in a college offensive line.

The speed of the game is also much faster according to Avelar.

"Even though the game is longer minute-wise it still goes by faster," Avelar said. The first practice for both players was a different experience for each.

"It was easy, all I did was kick," Avelar said.

As for Vargas, he said it was quite a different story.

"It was a reality check," Vargas said. "You are not the star anymore. You have to put forth a lot more effort."

For many students, the appeal to go to college is to get away from home.

However, for both Avelar and Vargas the opposite was true because they both like being close to home for a number reasons.

They both said that they save money by living at home so they do not have to pay rent or spend money on laundry.

In addition, they also said they get to have Mom's home cooked meals, which any student far away from home would appreciate.

Assistant coach Lynn Huber said he was not surprised about the talent pool from small towns. "No, I'm not surprised about the talent pools in small towns," Huber said. "Our mission is to find the right kids to come in and play immediately."

The coaches feel both Avelar and Vargas have developed good habits in their high school program. "Both Gabe and Travis have good work ethics," Assistant Coach Scott Hoaglund said about the pair from just up north of campus.

Abe Nowlan
Staff Reporter

While many that watch soccer might focus their attention on those players who score goals, one person's major role is to keep them from scoring.

Goalkeeper Katie Broadhead from Milford, Iowa has played that position for the Trojan women's soccer team this fall.

Broadhead has been playing soccer for five years.

She said she loves soccer so much because making big saves makes her feel good and because she also doesn't have to run at all during practice or games.

In preparation for each contest, Broadhead said she paces up and down the sideline and plays loud music to help get her mind focused on the upcoming contest.

"Playing music while I pace helps me with my preparation for this game so that no one else can distract me," Broadhead said.

Her coach said he feels that Broadhead, like much of the team, has developed during this initial season of soccer at NIACC.

"She had made a lot of progress and improvement since the beginning of the season," her coach Jason Hoenshell said.

Broadhead said she doesn't like the pressure of being a goalkeeper because everyone is depending on her to make big saves and keep the ball out of the net rather than in the net.

Broadhead has seen success doing that this season. Against Waldorf earlier this season, Broadhead had five saves and the first shutout of the season.

Broadhead said her role model is her mom.

"She doesn't let me give up and she tells me not to be a baby," Broadhead said. "She also tells me don't feel sorry for myself."

Teammate Kara Parson, who plays right mid-field thinks her teammate is doing an excellent job this year.

"She has been doing awesome," Parson said. "She has had many good saves this season and she is a good at helping and instructing the rest of the team."

Broadhead helps direct the defense and instructs the rest of the teammates as part of her responsibilities with the squad.

"She is a good instructor, especially to the defense and she is all over the goal," Parson said.

Aaron Reisdorfer
Sports Editor

With a couple of weeks left in this year's soccer season, eyes quickly turn to next year for the program.

In addition to building on the fine first years for both the men and the women, one thing fans can look forward to is a brand new soccer field.

That facility will be located on the southeast corner of the campus with two fields.

The fields, which were scheduled to be done by the beginning of this school year, weren't available due to a minor technicality.

"When I started in June, the field was well underway," Ryan McGuire, NIACC athletic director, said.

So why wasn't the field completed by the beginning of the new school year?

"When they put the seed down, there was a dry period that killed the seed," McGuire said. That resulted in what looked like a field of rogue soybeans and corn.

This wasn't a major problem because luckily enough space was available to accommodate a quick switch for this season.

The soccer fields were moved to an alternative sight, right across the road from the football practice area and the softball field.

"The grounds crew has done a nice job in keeping this location well maintained," McGuire said.

Both locations are convenient for fans. There's lots of parking available and students don't have to find another location in town to attend games.

McGuire said he is happy for a couple of other reasons. "We're very fortunate to have some space to play soccer," McGuire said.

"We're also very fortunate that the geese haven't been a major problem," McGuire joked about sharing the space with the resident geese population.

McGuire talked about the status of the original soccer field.

"They have re-seeded the field and it should be ready for the spring season," McGuire said.