Box Score TAYLORSVILLE, Utah (August 26, 2017) – The Salt Lake Community College Bruins had an adventurous Saturday, outlasting the Western Wyoming Community College Mustangs in a thrilling five-set victory at Bruin Arena.
 
The Bruins closed the 2017 Crystal Classic at 4-0, besting each team they faced in the season-opening tournament. SLCC and WWCC had a dramatic back-and-forth contest, finishing with the Bruins claiming a 3-2 victory with set scores of 25-15, 22-25, 25-9, 23-25, 15-11.
 
SLCC finished with a hitting percentage of .268, having 68 kills in the five-set match victory. The Bruins and Mustangs were tied at 7-7 in the final set, before Salt Lake scored the next two points off a pair of kills by To'a Faleao and Lia Finau to take command of the set.
 
If it was strong offense that lifted the Bruins to the win, it was offensive errors that downed the Mustangs. Western Wyoming finished with 30 errors, along with 5 service errors.
 
Finau led the Bruins with 18 kills, while Alexus Desmarais finished with 28 digs. Salt Lake finished with 17.5 blocks as a team.
 
The Bruins' win lifted them to their first 4-0 start since 2012, when Salt Lake didn't lose a set on the way to sweeping the Crystal "Inn"vitational title. The nationally-ranked Bruins will host the 2017 version of the Crystal "Inn"vitational next weekend, with several notable matches scheduled for the contest.
 
SLCC will host defending national champion Miami Dade on Friday at 10:00 a.m., then will play Northwest College at 2:00 p.m. The Bruins will play four matches in the tourney, consisting of Friday and Saturday action at the Taylorsville Campus.
 
The 2017 Crystal "Inn"vitational will be available for streaming on live.ksl.com, with stats on www.slccbruins.com.