With a sweep of conference foes over the weekend, the Bruin volleyball team went undefeated in the Scenic West Athletic Conference (SWAC) and claimed the conference championship.
They will face the winner of the No. 4 Snow College vs. No. 5 Utah State University–Eastern (USU-E) at the Lifetime Activities Center on the Salt Lake Community College Taylorsville Redwood Campus on Friday, Nov. 8 at 7 p.m.
SLCC beat USU-E in three sets both times that the teams met during the regular season. The Bruins had a tougher time against Snow beating them 3 sets to 1 in their first meeting and 3 sets to 2 in the second meeting.
The Regional 18 finals will feature all of the teams in the SWAC battling it out at Bruins Arena.
Salt Lake Community College will host the SWAC Regional 18 tournament on Nov. 8 and 9. In this single elimination tournament, the Bruins will be in the top seeded spot. The winner and the runner-up get automatic bids to Nationals on Nov. 21, 22 and 23.
Colorado Northwestern Community College didn’t put up much of a fight on Friday. The No. 7 Bruins defeated the Spartans in 3 sets (25-7, 25-11, 25-12) and claimed the SWAC Championship in the process. The Spartans must hold other jobs than just being volleyball players as there didn’t seem to be much fight in them.
Saturday’s game against Utah State University-Eastern was essentially meaningless when it came down to standings in the SWAC. However, the 3 set victory (25-12, 25-14, 29-27) could figure into the national rankings and may give the Bruins insurance in the case that they do not win the tournament.
After running the table in the conference, the Bruins are favorites to win it all. They will face stiff competition with four teams ranked in the top 20 nationwide participating in the tournament.
Games will be at the Taylorsville Redwood Campus Lifetime Activities Center, which gives the Bruins home court advantage throughout the tournament.
SLCC’s stiffest competition should come from the College of Southern Idaho. CSI finished with a 7-3 record and was the runner up in the SWAC standings. CSI was ranked No. 8 during the season.
The Bruins and CSI will have byes in the opening round.
| Seed | (Natn’l Rank) Team | Record (SWAC) |
| No. 1 | No. 7 SLCC | 22-6 (10-0) |
| No. 2 | No. 8 College of Southern Idaho | 20-9 (7-3) |
| No. 3 | No. 16 North Idaho College | 14-9 (6-4) |
| No. 4 | No. 15 Snow College | 17-9 (5-5) |
| No. 5 | USU-Eastern | 6-19 (2-8) |
| No. 6 | Colorado Northwestern CC | 3-26 (0-10) |
