Snow Took Three Two-Point Sets to Beat No. 4 SLCC

Snow College defeated No. 4 Salt Lake Community College in four sets Saturday, September 19, at the Horne Activity Center in Ephraim. The Badgers lost the opener 25-18, then won 27-25, 25-23 and 28-26 to finish the first Scenic West Athletic Conference weekend at 1-1.

The final three sets all reached the two-point minimum. Snow did not win the match by piling up more kills or producing the cleaner attack percentage. SLCC led 60-43 in kills and hit .179 to Snow's .106, but the Badgers stayed inside every late-set exchange and closed all three.

That is the result: one ranked in-state opponent, three pressure sets, three Snow wins.

Snow won the three-set pressure test

SLCC controlled the opening set 25-18. The Bruins' official recap said Snow then "took charge" across the final three sets, but the margins show how little room either side had. Set two went beyond 25 before Snow won 27-25. The Badgers took the third 25-23, then needed 54 total points to close the fourth 28-26.

None of those was a runaway response. Snow had to find the last two points three separate times after losing the first set by seven.

The Saturday result also reversed Friday's opener between the same teams. SLCC's official schedule records a 3-1 Bruins win at Snow on September 18. Less than a day later, the Badgers produced their own four-set win in the same gym. The split left Snow at 11-6 overall and SLCC at 13-4, with both teams 1-1 in conference play.

For a two-match opening weekend, the format created an immediate adjustment test. Salt Lake won the first meeting. Snow had one night to answer. By Saturday afternoon, the Badgers had turned the same matchup into a ranked win.

The box score favored Salt Lake in volume

The official box score makes Snow's route unusual. Salt Lake finished with 60 kills to Snow's 43, collected 85 digs to Snow's 76 and held a 14-11 advantage in blocks. The Bruins also posted the better hitting percentage, .179 to .106.

Snow made up ground in two places that directly change short sets: serving and late execution. The Badgers served eight aces to SLCC's four and committed seven service errors. Salt Lake committed 17 service errors, a total highlighted in the Bruins' own recap.

That ten-error difference did not automatically decide every close point, but it changed the number of playable rallies. In three sets settled by the minimum two points, giving away ten more serves than the opponent is a margin large enough to shape the entire match.

SLCC still generated enough offense to keep each set alive. Cameron Zajer and Angelina Murase recorded 18 kills apiece, while Rylee Parkinson added 15. Swayzee Mason finished with 42 assists, Daxlyn Robinson had 21 digs, Lana Hollway recorded seven blocks and Ellie Crosbie added six.

Those totals explain why Snow never separated. The Badgers did not remove Salt Lake's attack; they survived it.

Marli Vaea and Emily Kenison led Snow at the net

Marli Vaea led Snow with 11 kills and five blocks. Emily Kenison added nine kills, hit .316 and matched Vaea with five blocks. Hallie Layton and Mya Weatherly each finished with eight kills, giving the Badgers four attackers with at least eight.

The setting load was shared. Sydney Short had 14 assists and 13 digs, Lily Grant added 13 assists, and Saidey Spencer contributed six. Britani Stone led Snow with 19 digs, while Aleah McDaniel served three aces and Short added two.

Snow's distribution mattered because no Badger approached the 18-kill totals from Zajer or Murase. The offense arrived in smaller pieces, while the serving pressure and block production kept the score within reach. Vaea's 16 points led the Badgers, with Kenison at 14.5.

The match also offered a cleaner description than the word upset alone. Snow was outkilled, outhit, outdug and outblocked. It still won every set that reached its last two-point decision.

The split opens a crowded Scenic West race

Snow entered 2026 as the defending Rocky Mountain District champion after reaching the NJCAA Division I national tournament in 2025 and finishing eighth. The program's preseason release placed the Badgers eighth in the national poll before the season; the September 19 SLCC schedule listed Snow at No. 14 and Salt Lake at No. 4.

That background makes the result significant without turning one September weekend into a championship prediction. Snow has recent postseason proof. SLCC arrived in Ephraim with a top-five ranking and left with the same 1-1 conference record as the Badgers.

The two-match split also keeps the in-state junior-college race from forming an early hierarchy. SLCC proved Friday it could beat Snow in four. Snow proved Saturday it could absorb that result and reverse it immediately.

North Idaho and Colorado Northwestern are next

SLCC continues its road trip at North Idaho on Friday, September 25, at 7 p.m. Mountain, according to the Bruins' recap. Snow's published season preview sends the Badgers to Colorado Northwestern in Rangely on September 25 before a home set against Utah State University Eastern.

Those matches move both teams out of the two-day head-to-head and deeper into the conference schedule. The first Scenic West weekend did not produce separation. It produced a split, one top-five loss and a Snow response built on three two-point finishes.

Key facts:

• Final: Snow College 3, No. 4 Salt Lake Community College 1
• Date and site: September 19, 2026, Horne Activity Center, Ephraim, Utah
• Set scores: SLCC 25-18; Snow 27-25, 25-23, 28-26
• Records after the match: Snow 11-6 overall and 1-1 SWAC; SLCC 13-4 overall and 1-1 SWAC
• Snow leaders: Marli Vaea 11 kills and 5 blocks; Emily Kenison 9 kills, .316 hitting and 5 blocks; Britani Stone 19 digs
• SLCC leaders: Cameron Zajer and Angelina Murase 18 kills each; Swayzee Mason 42 assists; Daxlyn Robinson 21 digs
• Team comparison: SLCC led 60-43 in kills, .179-.106 in hitting, 85-76 in digs and 14-11 in blocks
• Serving: Snow had 8 aces and 7 service errors; SLCC had 4 aces and 17 service errors
• Weekend split: SLCC won 3-1 on September 18; Snow won 3-1 on September 19
• Next: SLCC visits North Idaho on September 25; Snow travels to Colorado Northwestern the same day