Last modified: Wednesday, September 17, 2008 11:24 AM PDT RAY RODRIGUEZ | ARGUS OBSERVER New Plymouth’s middle blocker Lauren Burnside makes a diving attempt at a dig during Tuesday’s Western Idaho Conference tilt against Nampa Christian. Burnside notched four kills and four blocks in the Pilgrims’ 3-1oss to Nampa Christian. Trojans dominate at Pilgrim Pavilion By Ray Rodriguez Argus Observer New Plymouth—Nampa Christian stormed into Pilgrim Pavilion and sent New Plymouth to a four-game defeat Tuesday in Western Idaho Conference volleyball action in New Plymouth. The long-time of success carried the Trojans through the tough road test. “They certainly have that tradition of winning, and that carried them quite a ways,” New Plymouth head coach Paula Leppert said. The Trojans won the first game 25-13, and the early advantage was kick-started by middle blocker Andrea Vander Woude, who slammed down three aces to lead Nampa Christian to a 6-0 lead. At one point, Kaitlin Troost dropped three straight aces to push the Trojan cushion to 13-2. With the score 24-13, Nampa Christian’s Kayla Vander Stelt notched the winner on a kill to give the Trojans a 1-0 match lead. In Game 2, Nampa Christian held the 21-17 lead but the Pilgrims went on a 5-1 run to even the score at 22. New Plymouth’s Sienna Edmunson’s kill evened the score, and Lauren Arnzen gave the Pilgrims a 23-22 lead after a kill. On the following serve, New Plymouth’s Lauren Burnside appeared to notch a kill to give her team the 24-23 advantage, but the official ruled she made contact with the net, and a point was awarded to Nampa Christian, giving them a 24-23 lead. Vander Woude threw down the game-winning kill to give the Trojans the 25-23 win and a 2-0 match lead. New Plymouth battled back with a 25-19 win in the third game, using six kills by Edmunson and three service aces by Adia Campbell. The Pilgrims jumped out to a 9-3 lead early in the third game on a kill by Edmunson and, at one point, led 18-6. Nampa Christian went to work and chipped away with a 10-1 run and was down 19-16. New Plymouth’s Amanda Brown stopped the surge with a kill to give the Pilgrims a 20-16 lead, and Arnzen added an ace for a 21-16 cushion. The Trojans used back-to-back aces by Vander Stelt and crept to within a 21-19 deficit before Edmunson scored two points on two straight kills to give New Plymouth a 23-19 lead. The Pilgrims scored the final two points for the 25-19 win and were down 2-1 entering the fourth game.  Nampa Christian and New Plymouth were in a shootout in the fourth, and with the Trojans leading 17-16, Vander Woude dropped an ace, and Vander Stelt rattled off back-to-back kills to give Nampa Christian a 20-16 advantage. As the match went on, New Plymouth got as close as a 21-18 deficit before Nampa Christian ended the match on a 3-1 run. Edmunson led New Plymouth with 10 kills and six digs, and Lauren Burnside added four kills and four blocks. Michelle Hull added 10 assists and six digs, and Fruitland High school transfer Campbell chipped in seven assists, eight digs and three service aces. New Plymouth (2-4 overall, 0-3 WIC) travels to Parma Thursday for another league showdown. Even with the sluggish start early in league play, Leppert said her team is headed in the right direction and the district playoffs is when her team could make a late-season surge.                                        “We’re getting to where we start chipping away,” Leppert said. “They start to realize they are as good as anyone out there and they control their own destiny and that they are going to beat those teams that they need to when they need to. And districts are when we are looking for that.”