TAYLORSVILLE, Utah (March 2, 2021) - A pair of teams beginning Scenic West Athletic Conference play highlights the happenings around the Salt Lake Community College Athletic Department this week.

With SLCC's baseball and softball programs beginning league play, now every team in the department will be playing a Scenic West schedule. Several teams will host home contests this weekend, with SLCC's baseball and men's-and-women's basketball teams both hosting games against Colorado Northwestern. 

Game times, as well as postgame recaps, of all SLCC events can be found at slccbruins.com.

Baseball: The Salt Lake Community College baseball team will play its first games of the season at Cate Field this weekend, facing off against Colorado Northwestern to open league play.

The Bruins finished the preseason at 4-6 overall, in preparations for hosting the Spartans in a four-game series. SLCC will open with a single game Thursday, playing a doubleheader on Friday, and then close with a single game Saturday.

Men's Basketball: A split week last week levels the Salt Lake Community College men's basketball team at No. 13 in the national polls, ahead of a pair of games.

SLCC will host Colorado Northwestern in a game Wednesday inside the Lifetime Activities Center, following up with a game at the College of Southern Nevada Saturday. Salt Lake split in a pair of games with Southern Idaho and USU Eastern last week.

Bruins coach Kyle Taylor said his team has learned some lessons after the narrow loss at USU Eastern.

"I hope our team learned that you have to bring it every night, this league is too good to just show up," he said. "We've got two good battles this week with CNCC and CSN. Both games were very competitive the first time and our focus right now is CNCC and going 1-0 in each game we play. I'm also looking forward to our first trip down to Southern Nevada as a team and playing them in Las Vegas."

Softball: The SLCC Softball team has held consistent as the No. 3 team in the nation, and now the Bruins will put their rankings to the test in a series against Colorado Northwestern.

Salt Lake closed the preseason at 10-0, including a perfect sweep through a schedule loaded with Scenic West teams in preseason. The Bruins are 2-0 in games against Colorado Northwestern this season. 

SLCC coach Cyndee Bennett said her team is excited to return to the field after some time off.

"We are excited to get back in action and start the SWAC," she said. "We look forward to a weekend of growth."

Volleyball: A win over the nation's then-No. 2 ranked squad has lifted the SLCC Volleyball team to No. 11 in the standings. 

Salt Lake will take its newly-vaulted ranking on the road this week, playing at the College of Southern Nevada on Tuesday and then at nationally-ranked Snow College on Friday. SLCC is now a perfect 3-0 in league play.

"We are heading into the last week of the first round of conference as a team," said Bruins coach Sue Dulaney. "We're on the road but we've really enjoyed our short-lived week at home.  Playing in front of our fans and family was re-energizing for all of us. We are growing in so many areas of the game each week as we are beginning to understand the why."

Women's Basketball: The SLCC women's team will look to continue to build momentum from a win over USU Eastern Saturday.

Salt Lake will host Colorado Northwestern Wednesday and travel to play at Southern Nevada on Saturday, setting up a pair of opportunities for impressive wins for the Bruins if they play well. SLCC started the season at 8-0 before going on a three-game losing streak in league play.

"As a team, you learn more from your losses then wins, as hard as it is," SLCC coach Marcilina Grayer said. "We've had a tough couple weeks, but we have definitely focused on the lessons those losses have taught us. The SWAC is really competitive this year and any team could win on any given night, which makes every game exciting. We can only focus on what we can control."