SLCC Volleyball

Salt Lake Community College volleyball plays at Bruin Arena on the Redwood Campus in Taylorsville under head coach Shay Goulding Meurer. It competes in NJCAA Division I and the Scenic West Athletic Conference, and it began the season seventh in the NJCAA Division I preseason poll.

The season so far

The Bruins opened at the Battle at the Beach in Fort Myers, Florida, with a straight-sets win over Polk State and a four-set upset of the host, No. 2 Florida Southwestern, on August 21. Angelina Murase had 19 kills in that match and setter Swayzee Mason 30 assists. At home they beat No. 19 New Mexico Junior College and No. 8 Trinity Valley. Their first four losses came to Daytona State, No. 4 Weatherford, No. 1 Miami Dade and Snow College (rankings as SLCC's schedule lists them).

SLCC's recaps listed the Bruins at No. 4 when they opened Scenic West play at No. 14 Snow in Ephraim. They won the first match in four sets on September 18, with Cameron Zajer hitting .400 for 19 kills, and lost the second in four on September 19, when Zajer and Murase had 18 kills each.

What comes next

SLCC won both matches at North Idaho on September 25 and 26, won 3-1 at Casper on October 3 and swept Truckee Meadows at Bruin Arena on October 9 and October 10. At home it then swept No. 10 College of Southern Idaho on October 16, lost the rematch in four sets on October 17, ending a six-match win streak, beat Casper in four on October 20 and swept Colorado Northwestern on October 23 and again on Sophomore Day, October 24, when Lana Hollway had 11 kills on 12 attacks. It was 22-5 and 8-2 in the Scenic West as of October 26, one of three teams tied for first at 8-2, per USU Eastern's October 25 recap. On October 30 it won 3-1 at USU Eastern, where Angelina Murase had 19 kills and SLCC handed the Eagles their first home loss in Price, per SLCC's recap. On October 31 it swept USU Eastern in Price to close the regular season as co-SWAC champions and earn the right to host the Region 18 Tournament, per SLCC's recap, and it was 24-5 and 10-2 in the Scenic West as of November 1. As the No. 1 seed it hosted the Region 18 tournament at Bruin Arena, beat No. 4 seed Snow College 3-1 on November 4, when the Bruins served 17 aces, nine by Angelina Murase, and beat No. 2 seed College of Southern Idaho 3-1 for the Region 18 title on November 5, when Cameron Zajer had 23 kills and Ellie Crosbie ended the match with a block, per SLCC's recaps. It was 26-5 as of November 5. SLCC's schedule then listed a District Championship match at Bruin Arena on November 9, and College of Southern Idaho's recap said a district playoff winner earns an automatic bid to the NJCAA national tournament, November 18-21 in Hutchinson, Kansas.

Who is on the roster

Eight of the 13 players list Utah hometowns, including outside hitter Rylee Parkinson (Herriman, Mountain Ridge), Mason (Aurora, North Sevier), libero Daxlyn Robinson and middle blocker Ella Robbins (both Salem, Salem Hills). Zajer and Lana Hollway are from Adelaide, Australia, Murase from Osaka, Japan, and Sara Stancu from Timisoara, Romania.