Colton Yack, Sports Information Director

Volleyball:

No. 6 SLCC hopes to defend their 2013 Region 18 championship as the No. 2 seed in this year's tournament hosted by CSI

TWIN FALLS, ID – Last year, SLCC stream rolled their way to the Region 18 title sweeping both matches in the tournament. This year the No. 6 NJCAA nationally ranked Bruins will hope to defend their 2013 title as the No. 2 seed in the 2014 Region 18 Tournament hosted by the College of Southern Idaho in Twin Falls, Idaho.

The Bruins seem to be hitting their peak at just the right time while winning their last four Scenic West Athletic Conference (SWAC) matches including a 3-2 win over North Idaho College on Oct. 23 and a 3-1 win over host CSI on Oct. 25, both of which were on the road.

As SLCC hits the road on Thursday, Nov. 6, the path to a second consecutive Region 18 title will not be easy as the Bruins did have a tough time against each of their potential tournament opponents.

The tournament will begin on Friday, Nov. 7, with two opening round matches. The first will take place at 10 a.m. with the second beginning at 1 p.m. Second round matches will take place the same day at 4 p.m. and 7 p.m. The Region 18 championship match will be Saturday, Nov. 8, at 1 p.m. A link to the tournament lineup can be found here as a link to the tournament lineup can be found here. Also, all matches will be streamed live online at youtube.com/snowbadgertv and live.ksl.com.

REGION 18 TOURNAMENT FIELD

COLLEGE OF SOUTHERN IDAHO: Consistently towards the top of the SWAC standings, the CSI Golden Eagles have either been No. 3 or No. 4 in the NJCAA national poll all season and it is easy to see why. Currently sitting in the No. 4 slot nationally, CSI has only dropped two matches in 2014 one of which was that Oct. 25 matchup against SLCC. The other was a sweep from Iowa Western Community College, currently the No. 1 team in the nation, back on Aug. 29 in the Crystal "Inn"vitational hosted by SLCC. In between those losses, the Golden Eagles reeled off 23 straight wins to end the season 30-2 overall and 9-1 in conference to earn the top seed and the right to host the Region 18 Tournament. Earning a bye in the tournament's opening round, the Golden Eagles will play the winner of fourth seeded NIC and fifth seeded Utah State University-Eastern on Friday at 7 p.m. A link to CSI's second round match can be found here.

SALT LAKE COMMUNITY COLLEGE: Another team who has been inside the NJCAA top-10 all season, the SLCC Bruins are currently ranked nationally at No. 6 and are possibly playing their best volleyball of the year. Since the only time they lost consecutive matches all season on Oct. 14 and Oct. 14, the Bruins won out their remaining four matches including the last two by way of sweep to enter the tournament. SLCC earned the tournament's No. 2 seed with a 20-8 overall record, 8-2 in the SWAC. Also, seven of those eight season losses have come from the hands of team currently ranked in the NJCAA top-10. That difficult schedule could pay dividends entering the postseason. As the second seed in the Region 18 Tournament the Bruins have earned a first round bye and will square off against the winner of third seeded Snow College and sixth seeded Colorado Northwestern Community College Friday at 4 p.m. A link to SLCC's second round match can be found here.

SNOW COLLEGE: Arguably the dark horse of the Region 18 Tournament, the Snow College Badgers have quietly put together a remarkable year while defeating many quality opponents. Opening the 2014 season under first year Head Coach Craig Choate unranked in the NJCAA poll, the Badgers started the season 9-2 with five of those wins over nationally top-20 teams and catapulted themselves to No. 9. Climbing as high as No. 7, Snow now sits at No. 10 and enters the tournament as the third seed with a 19-6 overall record and 6-4 in SWAC play. Make no mistake though; Snow has the capability to play with anyone as they gave both CSI and SLCC a run for their money this season including a win over SLCC in Ephraim, Utah on Oct. 18. Snow's Region 18 Tournament opening round match will be Friday at 10 a.m. as they will face sixth seeded Colorado Northwestern Community College. A link to Snow's opening round match can be found here.

NORTH IDAHO COLLEGE: Another team that could surprise some people in this year's Region 18 Tournament is the North Idaho College Cardinals. Last year NIC entered the tournament as the third seed and pulled out a miraculous semifinal win over CSI to punch their ticket to the championship match against SLCC. Despite dropping that match, the Cardinals still earned a berth to the NJCAA National Tournament and pulled off a few upset wins to finish sixth in the tournament. Finishing the 2014 season 9-10 overall and 4-6 in the SWAC, NIC will be the fourth seed for the tournament and could have a similar path as the 2013 tournament as an opening round win would lead to a semifinal matchup with CSI. To get to that point NIC will tango with fifth seeded Utah State University-Eastern Friday at 1 p.m. A link to NIC's open round match can be found here.

UTAH STATE UNIVERSITY-EASTERN: It has been a season of highs and lows for the Eagles of Utah State University-Eastern to say the least. The Eagles started the season 0-4 with three sweeping losses. USU-E then reeled off six wins over their next seven matches to get above the .500 mark at 6-5. Following the hot streak the Eagles only won three more matches, all three being SWAC matches, over the course of their final 13 matches to finish the year 9-15 and 3-7 in the SWAC to enter the Region 18 Tournament as the No. 5 seed. USU-E does have a reason to be optimistic as their opening round match is against NIC whom they did beat on Oct. 18 3-1. USU-E's opening round match against NIC will be Friday at 1 p.m. with a link found here.

COLORADO NORTHWESTERN COMMUNITY COLLEGE: Even though the Colorado Northwestern Community College Spartans went 5-21 overall and 0-10 in SWAC play, they have given the conference coaches something to think about as they have shown a large improvement from last season. As the sixth seed in the Region 18 Tournament, their opening round matchup against third seeded Snow College Friday at 10 a.m. could be one fans keep their eyes on as the Spartans nearly stole a few sets from the Badgers in their two conference affairs. A link to CNCC's opening round match can be found here.