Salt Lake Community College looked dominate early in the game taking set one 25 – 16. The Bruins gave the next two sets away and almost gifted the fourth set to the Snow College Badgers.
The Bruins biggest problem in the game is that they seemed to give up after a big SLCC hit. There were numerous times when SLCC would spike the ball and stop playing assuming that Snow College wouldn’t come up with it.
The Badgers, however, never gave up on a play until it was dead. Even then, they tried to chase down the ball. When the Badgers were able to recover from the big hit, SLCC was taken by surprise as the ball came back over the net, and the Bruins had to continue to play.
SLCC was able to turn it back on in the fifth set. The final score was SLCC 3 sets, Snow College 2 (25 – 16, 21 – 25, 23- 25, 25 – 21, 15 – 8).
The no. 6 Bruins hosted the no. 18 Badgers for their “Dig Pink” night, which raised funds for the Swing for Life Foundation.
The Bruins host two more games at home. Friday, October 25, 2013, the Bruins will face no. 16 Northern Idaho College for Alumni Night at 7 p.m.
On Saturday, the Bruins face off against no. 8 College of Southern Idaho. The sophomores will be featured as they play their last regularly scheduled game in a Bruins uniform. First serve is scheduled for 1 p.m.
Set one
The set was tied early at 4, but the Badgers wouldn’t get any closer as SLCC took advantage of poor serving and long hits early on. The Badgers did try for a comeback, but a Carol Grasso kill kept SLCC in the lead at 12 – 10. Hannah Wade hit the ball out on the next play, but Bailee Kendall posterized Badger Kjirsten Nelson with a vicious kill. The score was 13 – 11.
A Jillian Campbell ace, two defensive plays that kept the ball alive and allowed Janessa Koelliker to finish the play, and a Wade send back were followed by a Snow College hit out of bounds making the score 17 – 11. The Bruins defense kept the pressure up, and Grasso was able to finish the match with a dink that the defense knocked out of bounds. SLCC took set one 25 – 16.
Set two: things fall apart
Baylie Henrie started things strong for the Bruins with back to back aces. Wade’s hit of the fingers of the defense made it 3 – 0. However, an SLCC error and a miscommunication that erased the good defense showed by Campbell gave life to the Badgers. Campbell kept the pressure on the badgers with a kill that was followed by a Kendall kill. Campbell’s defense was responsible for the next SLCC point, and the Bruins looked like they would shut this set down early. The score was 6 – 2.
After 2 kills by Badger Brenna DeYoung and a kill by the Snow College setter, the Badgers were able to tie the game at 7 on a miscommunication by the Bruins that resulted in an ace. SLCC scored the next 3 points, but Koelliker and Sequoia Lofton were both rejected on kill attempts, and a miscommunication before the next point resulted in slim lead for the Bruins at 11 – 10.
Snow College was able to tie the game at 12 as Allyssa Koki and Indigo Allen couldn’t dig out the ace serve. Grasso was rejected on the next play, but Snow College hit the ball out of bounds. A Henrie serve into the net made it 14 – 13. Grasso, Wade and Campbell’s defense resulted in the next 3 points for SLCC. The score was 17 – 13.
Wade hit the ball long, but Campbell killed the ball in a place the Badgers weren’t covering. With the score 20 – 15 on Koelliker’s defense, the set looked well in hand.
The badgers asserted themselves on a hit that Abby Pomrenke couldn’t get to. The next play resulted in a rejection of a Kendall spike in the middle. Lofton hit the ball too long, Kendall was again rejected, and an SLCC error allowed the Badgers to sneak back into the set tied at 20.
The Bruins imploded. The only bright spot was a Kendall kill to tie the set at 21. The Badgers took the set at 21 – 25.
Set three
Early on, it looked like Snow College wasn’t interested in playing anymore. The game was tied at 2, but three consecutive out of bounds plays by the Badgers were sandwiched between Wade killing them softly with a ball that floated between the net and the defense, and Kendall killing it with her accustomed power. The score was 6 – 2.
Snow tied the game at 10 as even an Allen dig couldn’t stop the SLCC hitting errors. A Bruin timeout didn’t help as Pomremke and Lizzie Reich had a miscommunication on the next play, and Mariana Pilon couldn’t get to the ball.
A Grasso kill and Campbell’s defense and point scored tied the game at 12. The Bruins were able to take the lead at 13 – 12 on a Badger hit out of bounds. The set was tied at 14 on a Campbell kill in the middle, and SLCC played some really pretty defense. Even though Snow College was able to recover and rejected Kendall’s kill attempt, Campbell finished the play to make the score 15 – 14.
Snow came back and took the lead, but a Kendall hit that sent Badgers to the floor tied the game at 19. The game was tied again at 23 when the Badgers served the ball out of bounds. A Badger dink, and SLCC’s defense was exposed to give the Badgers the set at 23 – 25.
Set four: the Bruins ring Campbell
A brilliant early dig by Allen went for naught as the Badgers scored the point making it 3 – 4, but a Kendall kill into the teeth of the defense tied the set at 4.That was about as good as it got in the early going as the Bruins had numerous miscommunications and ugly plays that included a Grasso out that looked good, Pomrenke setting the ball to no one at the net, and an SLCC back court that looked like the Keystone Cops, which resulted in a Wade kill that started a Bruin rally. (Maybe that wasn’t so bad; the Keystone Cops are funny.)
After the Wade kill, SLCC got it together for the moment on a signature Grasso kill that redefined beauty. The Bruin defense scored the next point, and a Snow College error gave the Bruins the lead at 9 – 8. Campbell killed it for the next point, and Grasso scored the next point on a kill. Snow had a four hit error, and Henrie served the next ball with far too much arc resulting in a Snow college kill.
With the score 12 -9, Grasso had a kill in the corner, and the Badgers hit the ball into the net. Snow’s next shot was on the line, but Campbell spiked the ball through the Badger defense to make the score 15 – 10.
The Badgers had two long hits and faced a Campbell ace before a spectacular defensive play sent the Badgers burrowing for a timeout.
With the score 19 -10, the Badgers came out of their hole to score the next 3 points in spite of a three nice digs by Grasso. The only thing that kept the Badgers from scoring more was their own serve went out.
While the set should have been well in hand with the score 24 to 17, Snow College scored the next 4 points as the Bruins went into hibernation. A timeout allowed the Bruins to emerge from the cold spell finishing the set with a Grasso kill. the score was 25 – 21.
Set five
The Bruin Arena could breathe a sigh of relief as the Bruins were never really in any danger in the set. SLCC’s defense held the line as the Bruins got the normal contributions from their starters. Grasso had a magical kill to make the score 11 – 5.
Kendall served the ball long, but Grasso had back to back kills. The Badger timeout resulted in a kill, but Koelliker delivered the next point. With the score 14 – 7 the Badgers were able to hit it off the Bruin defense, but a Grasso kill in the middle ended the comeback attempt. SLCC took the set 15 – 8.
Deneece Huftalin was the honorary coach of the game. Carol Grasso was named player of the game.
