SLCC Volleyball Wins Region 18 at Home, Rallying Past Southern Idaho in Four Sets

Salt Lake Community College won the 2026 NJCAA Region 18 volleyball tournament on its own floor on Thursday, Nov. 5, beating the College of Southern Idaho 19-25, 25-23, 27-25, 25-23 at Bruin Arena on the Redwood Campus in Taylorsville. The top-seeded Bruins lost the first set, trailed 23-20 in the third, and finished it in four when Ellie Crosbie's block ended the match, SLCC reported.

Cameron Zajer had a match-high 23 kills on .375 hitting. The win moved SLCC volleyball to 26-5, and the Bruins host the District Championship on Monday, Nov. 9.

Three of the four teams in the bracket were from Utah. SLCC beat No. 4 seed Snow College in Wednesday's first semifinal, and No. 2 seed CSI ended No. 3 seed USU Eastern's season in the second.

The final: 23 kills from Zajer and a third-set comeback

SLCC, ranked No. 3 in its own recaps, and CSI, ranked No. 9, were the top two teams in the Scenic West Athletic Conference. Both finished 10-2 in conference play, and they had split two regular-season meetings: SLCC swept one, and CSI won the other in four sets.

CSI took the first set 25-19 and held SLCC to .051 hitting in it, per SLCC's box score. Each of the next three sets went to SLCC by two points.

In set two, Sara Stancu served five straight points, two of them aces, to turn a 9-5 deficit into a 10-9 lead. CSI still led 23-22 late, until Zajer put away back-to-back kills from setter Swayzee Mason and a CSI attack error by Pannell closed the set 25-23.

Set three was the turn. CSI led 23-19 before SLCC won three straight points: Angelina Murase and Crosbie blocked Vivian Goto, Rylee Parkinson put down a kill, and Murase and Lana Hollway blocked Goto again for 23-22. CSI reached set point at 24-22 on a Goto kill, and two Golden Eagle attack errors tied it. Murase's ace made it 25-24 for SLCC. Pannell tied it with a kill, Mason answered with a kill for 26-25, and another Pannell attack error gave SLCC the set 27-25.

SLCC opened set four with three straight points. After a 21-all tie, the Bruins led 24-22 on a Zajer kill. On match point, Crosbie and Mason blocked Pannell's attack.

Zajer finished with 23 kills, 12 digs, two block assists and an ace. Murase added 12 kills and 16 digs, and Mason had a match-high 36 assists with 12 digs. Libero Daxlyn Robinson led SLCC with 18 digs, one of four Bruins in double figures, and Crosbie had four of the team's 14 block assists, SLCC reported. SLCC out-blocked CSI 8-5 by the box score, while CSI hit .229 to SLCC's .196.

CSI spread its offense across three hitters: Goto had 14 kills, and Pannell and Laura Grasel had 13 each, with Grasel hitting .480. Emerson Heatwole had a match-high 22 digs and Brindley 34 assists. CSI reported that Heatwole, Goto and Grasel were named to the Region 18 all-tournament team.

The semifinal: 17 aces against Snow College

SLCC reached the final by beating Snow 25-16, 25-21, 20-25, 25-20 on Wednesday afternoon, serving 17 aces. Murase, whom SLCC's recap called the reigning SWAC Player of the Week, served nine of them.

The Bruins had six aces in the first set alone, from four different servers, including a Mason serve that clipped the net and dropped on Snow's side, and took it 25-16. Snow led set two 20-19 before SLCC finished it with three Parkinson kills and two Murase aces.

Snow answered. SLCC trailed 6-1 early in the third set, and the Badgers won it 25-20 while hitting .387 in the set, per Snow's box score. Another Mason ace ended the match in the fourth.

Murase and Parkinson had 13 kills each, Zajer had 12 kills and nine digs, Robinson had a team-high 10 digs, and Mason had a match-high 30 assists, with setter Teagan Sabillon adding 13.

Snow College: Kenison efficient in the semifinal

Aleah McDaniel led Snow with 10 kills. Freshman middle blocker Emily Kenison had nine kills on 14 swings with one error, a .571 hitting percentage, plus three aces and three block assists, leading the Badgers in both. Hallie Layton added eight kills, Britani Stone had 20 digs and Lily Grant 24 assists, by Snow's box score.

Snow and SLCC had split their two regular-season matches, each winning in four sets, SLCC noted. The semifinal left the Badgers at 17-11 overall and 7-5 in the Scenic West, on Snow's schedule.

USU Eastern: a season that ends at 15-13

In Wednesday night's second semifinal, CSI swept USU Eastern 25-20, 25-20, 25-18 behind 10 service aces and .271 hitting, CSI reported. It was the third meeting of the season, and CSI's recap noted that USU Eastern had upset the Golden Eagles on their home court the last time they played.

USU Eastern's recap described a match that stayed close for long stretches. The second set was tied at 12, and CSI won it with a closing 7-4 run. The Eagles opened the third set on a 9-3 run, CSI answered with a 10-2 run to lead 13-11, and USU Eastern tied it at 16 before CSI outscored it 9-2 to finish the sweep. Sela Christiansen led the Eagles with nine kills and three blocks, and Selah Nickel added five kills and three blocks.

The loss ended USU Eastern's season at 15-13 overall and 8-4 in conference play. Christiansen led the team with 233 kills, and Madelin Newbold had 209. Alivia Manning finished with 130 blocks, 23rd nationally, as the Eagles ranked 10th in the nation in blocks, and Kielana Gasu had 362 digs, USU Eastern reported.

What comes next for SLCC

SLCC hosts Central Arizona College in the District Championship at Bruin Arena on Monday, Nov. 9, at 7 p.m. CSI travels to No. 12 Arizona Western in Yuma, Ariz., for a district playoff the same night, and CSI's recap says the winner of that match receives an automatic bid to the NJCAA national tournament in Hutchinson, Kan., on Nov. 18-21. SLCC's schedule lists the national tournament on those dates.

SLCC was in the same position a year ago. SLCC won the 2025 Region 18 title, then beat Central Arizona on Nov. 10, 2025, to earn its national tournament berth, SLCC reported at the time. Zajer was the SWAC's 2025 Player of the Year as a freshman, and head coach Shay Goulding Meurer was the conference's Coach of the Year. The American Volleyball Coaches Association also named Zajer to its first team of 2025 two-year college All-Americans; her path from Adelaide, Australia, is in her profile.

The JUCO pipeline hub follows SLCC, Snow College and USU Eastern through the rest of the postseason.

Key facts:

• Event: 2026 NJCAA Region 18 volleyball tournament, Nov. 4-5, Bruin Arena, Redwood Campus, Taylorsville, Utah; hosted by Salt Lake Community College
• Champion: No. 1 seed SLCC beat No. 2 seed College of Southern Idaho 19-25, 25-23, 27-25, 25-23; SLCC trailed 23-20 in the third set
• Final leaders: Cameron Zajer (Adelaide, Australia) 23 kills, .375; Swayzee Mason 36 assists; Daxlyn Robinson 18 digs; Angelina Murase 12 kills, 16 digs; Ellie Crosbie four block assists and the match-ending block
• Semifinal: SLCC beat No. 4 seed Snow College 25-16, 25-21, 20-25, 25-20 with 17 aces, nine by Murase
• Snow College: Aleah McDaniel 10 kills; Emily Kenison (Clinton, Utah) nine kills on .571 hitting; Britani Stone 20 digs; record 17-11, 7-5
• USU Eastern: lost 25-20, 25-20, 25-18 to CSI in the semifinal; Sela Christiansen nine kills, three blocks; season ended at 15-13, 8-4
• Next: SLCC (26-5) hosts Central Arizona College in the District Championship, Nov. 9, 7 p.m., Bruin Arena