TAYLORSVILLE, Utah (September 7, 2017) – After two home tournaments, the Salt Lake Community College volleyball program is at 7-1, with a loss to top-ranked Miami Dade Community College serving as the only blemish.
 
Now it's time for the Bruins to hit the road for the first time this season, as they travel to the home of rival College of Southern Idaho to take part in this weekend's Starr Corporation Invitational. The tourney will give SLCC another four matches, with the first SLCC competition scheduled for 10:00 a.m. on Friday against Yavapai College.
 
Two weeks into the season, the Bruins are pushing forward with several strong tendencies – an ability to control the net on offense and defense, an ability to pressure teams into making errors and the ability to control matches from the start. SLCC holds a 342-257 advantage in kills, an 88.5-32 advantage in blocks and the Bruins have forced teams into making 186 errors.
 
Other stunning offensive numbers include SLCC's 21-6 set advantage to this point in the season, and the fact that the Bruins have only allowed two of their eight matches to go past the third set.
 
The overall progress and development of the nation's fifth-ranked team in the preseason has SLCC coach Sue Dulaney excited about the prospects for the team.
 
"We're half way through the preseason and it's the best start we've had to this point," said the veteran Bruin coach. "We have a lot of depth this year in each position and will continue to mix up our lineups."
 
Several individuals have also made big impacts for the Bruins. To'a Faleao and Aubrie Steiner lead SLCC with 58 kills on the season, while Sam Filiaga leads Salt Lake with 1.74 blocks per set.
 
As the Bruins prepare for this weekend's tournament in Twin Falls, Idaho, the Bruins will play Yavapai at 10:00 a.m and Hutchinson at 4:00 p.m. on Friday. Saturday's matches start at 1:00 p.m. with a match against Monroe. SLCC will face off against Casper at 3:00 p.m.
 
Dulaney said the road tourney will be a good test for Salt Lake.
 
"This is our first road trip, as we've hosted two weekend tournaments the past two weekends, so we're excited," she said with enthusiasm. "It's always a great time to bond as a team."
 
Salt Lake Community College will play one more preseason tournament after this weekend, when the program travels to Las Vegas for the CSN Tournament. From there, the Bruins will look forward to the SWAC opener against Snow College on Sept. 22 at home.