SLCC volleyball sets lofty goal for 2016 season

The 2016 SLCC volleyball team is preparing for the fall season with practices and exhibition matches this spring. (Joseph Smith)

The Salt Lake Community College volleyball team hopes 2016 will be of the best seasons in program history.

The Bruins have already started getting ready for next season, playing a handful of spring matches against other Utah colleges and universities. As they prepare for a new year, three of the seven sophomores discuss the team’s attitude heading into the fall.

Opposite hitter Tiffany Robbins and liberos Ellie Cottam and Meilee Brown return to a squad that finished 25-8 last season and fell just short of the NJCAA tournament.

“Our mindset is [to be] more hungry,” Brown says. “We’re not going to be satisfied with anything less than winning [a national title].”

Cottam agrees, saying “we have a fire under our belt and want it a lot more this year.”

The four freshmen joining the team, which include twin sisters Tem and Tye Fuchs, will learn a lot from their veteran teammates.

“We have more of an advantage this year [after] getting experience from the sophomores the previous year,” Robbins explains.

Brown adds that she and her Bruin teammates are a tight group that have each other’s backs.

All three mention their head coach, Sue Dulaney, as an inspiration. Each of them strive to make their coach and fans proud. They want to become national champions, get a banner and leave a legacy.

Robbins wants to let students know that the team needs their support.

“It’s a lot different [when] fans cheer for us,” she says. “It gets us playing at our top level.”

SLCC will start the 2016 regular season August 1 in Texas. The Bruins will host their first tournament at SLCC during the first week of September.