Box Score Colton Yack, Sports Information Director

Volleyball:

No. 6 SLCC falls short in Region 18 Championship now look forward to trip to NJCAA National Tournament
 

	1	2	3	4	5	Final
SLCC	18	25	20	18	X	1
CSI	25	19	25	25	X	3

 
TWIN FALLS, ID – In a showdown between the top two seeds from Region 18, No. 6 SLCC could not find a rhythm and fell to No. 4 College of Southern Idaho Golden Eagles 1-3 in region championship.

As the top two seeds in the Region 18 Tournament, it was expected that SLCC and CSI would meet in the Region 18 Championship. Also being heated rivals, it only made the matchup that much more interesting as the two split the regular season series entering the tournament.

Set one opened up with CSI gaining a 3-6 lead including two service aces. SLCC then scored six of the next seven points to jump ahead 9-7. The two teams then traded points throughout the set to get to 14 all as the Golden Eagles used a four point run and a five point run down the stretch to take the early 0-1 lead by a score of 25-20.

In need of answering in set two and with the score at 3-4 in favor of CSI, the Bruins reeled off a five point streak of their own to place the score at 8-4. The Golden Eagles responded by closing the gap to two points 13-11, however SLCC kept their composure and never ceased the lead and cruised to the 25-19 set two win to even the score 1-1.

The Bruins appeared to be in control of set three as well by leading 11-7 early. Three kills and a solo block from the Golden Eagles however knotted the score 11-11 and set up an old fashioned shootout heading towards the middle of the set. With the score now at 14-13 for the Bruins, CSI put down six of the next seven points to put themselves in the driver's seat 19-15. Desperately attempting to get back in the set, SLCC got within two at 19-21, but a three point run from the Golden Eagles put it at set point and CSI ended up taking the 1-2 advantage 20-25.

Somewhat deflated from set three, the Bruins could not get anything going in set four as they fell behind 3-9. Two CSI hitting errors and an ace from SLCC led to a four point streak and the Bruins back in the set 7-9. Throughout the rest of the set SLCC failed to string together more than two points at a time leading to CSI taking set four 18-25 and the match 1-3.

With the loss, the Bruins finished as the Region 18 Runner-up but because of how competitive the region is SLCC qualified for the NJCAA National Tournament held in Casper, Wyo., Nov. 20-22 for the second consecutive year.

For their performance in the tournament Kallie Schmit (Kalama, WA), Carol Grasso (Sao Paulo, Brazil), and Mariana Pilon (Sao Paulo, Brazil) all were named to the Region 18 All-Tournament team.

For the match the Bruins were led by Grasso and Schmit who had 12 and 10 kills apiece. Also, coming off the bench and providing a huge lift was Sadie Pond (Herriman, UT) who hammed nine kills by hitting .421. Defensively Pilon, the Region 18 Libero of the Year, had 23 digs.