TAYLORSVILLE, Utah (September 12, 2019) - The Salt Lake Community College volleyball team continues to improve its position both regionally-and-nationally, with opportunities to better both marks in a tournament in Las Vegas packed with nationally-renowned teams upcoming this weekend.

The Bruins were raised to No. 8 in the latest NJCAA polls, with Salt Lake improving upon its mark last week by a single spot. SLCC finished last weekend's tournament with a 3-1 record, earning two set-sweeps in the action over Laramie County Community College and Casper College. Salt Lake was swept by No. 4 Miami-Dade in the Southern Idaho-hosted tourney but the Bruins will have their chance for revenge in the Vegas action this weekend, especially with Miami-Dade and No. 1 Seward County Community College on the schedule.

SLCC coach Sue Dulaney said her team understands the opportunity in front of them this weekend.

"We get a chance to redeem ourselves this upcoming week vs. Miami Dade," she said. "We were disappointed as a team as it wasn't at the level of play that we expect from ourselves during their match. The upcoming weekend is full of talent and we will be ready as each weekend every player is growing in their numbers statistically."

Salt Lake will open the tournament on Friday with Arizona Western before facing No. 1 Seward County at 5:00 p.m. at the CSN Sports Center in North Las Vegas. Seward County earned every No. 1 vote in the past week's poll and has opened the season with a record of 7-0. Miami-Dade is 7-1 overall.

The Bruins were slightly short-changed during last week's match against Miami-Dade, missing two of their top players. However, SLCC has no plans on that continuing to affect the team.

"This is a very resilient and versatile group of players," Dulaney said. "We had both our liberos have serious injuries within 48 hours of each other and this team can just step in and step up."

Salt Lake will play two matches Friday before facing Miami-Dade at 8:00 a.m. on Saturday, with a match against Central Wyoming at 12:00 p.m. SLCC's next home match is scheduled for Sept. 24 against Western Wyoming Community College.