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MUSKEGON — After a one-week break in its schedule, the Southwestern Michigan College volleyball team had a busy four days to wrap up last week.

After defeating Ancilla College 3-2 in a Michigan Community College Athletic Association Western Conference match Thursday, the Roadrunners headed to Lake Michigan College for a quad on Saturday and then headed north to Muskegon for the Jayhawk Invitational Sunday.

Southwestern went 1-1 at LMC, falling to Harper College 3-2 and defeating South Suburban 3-1.

On Sunday, the Roadrunners went 0-2 as they fell to MCCAA Eastern Conference member Oakland Community College 3-2 and to Mott Community College 3-0.

 

Jayhawk Invitational

Southwestern battled Oakland tooth and nail before falling 13-25, 15-25, 25-18, 25-23 and 15-9.

Mott swept the Roadrunners 25-18, 25-23 and 25-19.

We played two tough matches today and keep coming so close in these five set losses that we face,” said SMC Coach Jenny Nate. “We are nearing the tipping point, and if we can get just get over this hump and start to consistently win them, I know we can keep it rolling. We have to learn to expect to win and believe we can win in every situation.  We had a slow start today, and we can’t have a slow start against tough teams like these. We also got stuck in a rotation a few times, and we are working hard to learn from these losses and make positive changes moving forward.

“We actually had a great overall hitting percentage today and did a lot of good things. Unfortunately, we couldn’t ever close the gap to seal the win. But the competition we faced the last two days will definitely help us prepare for our conference matches this week, and we look forward to finally getting back on our home court to host.”

 

LMC Quad

The Roadrunners dropped another five-set thriller, losing to Harper 25-22, 18-25, 15-25, 25-20 and 15-11.

Against South Suburban, Southwestern won 27-25, 23-25, 25-18 and 25-15.

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“We are still working hard on our lineups post injuries and finding ways to win every set in every match,” Nate said. “We made a lot of progress this week and are 2-1 so far in the past three days. Overall, we are playing much better ball both offensively and defensively.  Our hitters all had positive hitting percentages this week, and many of our players are gaining confidence as we work various players into the lineups. Mentally, we are back on track and continue to build the trust and confidence needed to win these tight, close matches.

“Along with our strong offense, we had some amazing defensive plays today too, and our chemistry in the backcourt was great. Communication is improving, and our setter did a phenomenal job spreading out the sets today. We just have to stay focused, do the work, and keep building momentum.”

The Roadrunners are now 11-15 overall heading into another busy week.

Southwestern hosts Kalamazoo Valley Community College Tuesday night at the 1a Source Bank Fieldhouse before hosting Glen Oaks Community College Thursday. Both MCCAA Western Conference matches are scheduled to begin at 6:30 p.m.