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GRAND RAPIDS — The Southwestern Michigan College volleyball team went 2-2 at the Raider Challenge hosted by Grand Rapids Community College over the weekend.

On Saturday, the Roadrunners split with McHenry Community College and North Central Michigan. On Sunday, Southwester split with Carl Sandberg and Lake County.

 

Day 1

McHenry defeated the Roadrunners in their opening match 15-25, 12-25, 25-15, 25-20 and 15-11, while SMC rebounded to defeat North Central 25-18, 23-25, 25-22 and 25-20.

“Today was a great day for our team,” said Roadrunner Coach Jenny Nate. “Despite the first loss against McHenry in five sets, we dominated the first two sets, which gave us a glimpse at what we can do against the top teams. We have to maintain that through the five sets. We stayed strong, but lost the last set 15-11. We moved and beat a tough North Central team in four sets. I was really pleased with various improvements we made this week — especially our balanced attacking. Seven of our attackers all had positive hitting percentages, and we did a great job scoring from every attack position. Our setters did an awesome job running the offense and really getting all of our hitters involved. We had some great blocks throughout the day that really affected the opposing attackers. We have to keep capitalizing on our strengths and continuing to make steady improvements daily.

“This is a great tournament against tough teams, which will help us prepare for round two of our conference matches.”

Nikki Nate (Niles) had a team-high 21 kills, while Buchanan freshman Josie West, who has returned from injury, had 18 kills. Bianca Hobson (Kalamazoo/Loy Norrix) and Juliette Schroeder (Sturgis) finished the day with 14 and 13 kills, respectively. Shayla Shears (Edwardsburg) and Emma Beckman (Niles) each had 11 kills.

Schroeder led the Roadrunners in blocks with four, while West led the team in digs with 25. Nate and Elizabeth Stockdale (Brandywine) both finished with 19 digs.

Shears led SMC with 29 points and six aces. Beckman had 43 assists, while Anna Johnson (Niles) had 38 assists.

 

Day 2

Carl Sandberg defeated the Roadrunners 25-15, 25-14 and 25-22 to open the second day of competition on Sunday.

Southwestern Michigan, just as it did the day before, rebounded and defeated Lake County 25-13, 25-15 and 25-21.

“Facing off against Carl Sandburg definitely challenged us defensively,” Nate said. “They run a very fast offense that required us to speed up our block and our defensive reading. It was a loss, but it will make us a better defensive team. We played Lake County next, and we beat them earlier in the season 3-1, so I was very happy that we swept them this time 25-13, 25-15, and 25-21. We did a great job of staying composed and positive no matter what the score was, and that helped us control runs during our wins, and make some great runs despite trailing at times. This was a great weekend that will help us prepare for the second round of conference matches that begin this week.”

Nate and West had 14 kills each, while Hobson had 12 kills and Shears 10. Nate and Hobson both finished with five blocks with Shears, West and Beckman added three blocks each.

Nate had a team-high 26 digs, Stockdale 14 digs and West 10 digs. Shears again led the way in points with 16 and three aces, while Beckman and Johnson had 27 assists apiece.

The Roadrunners are now 14-7 overall as they head back to the 1^st Source Bank Fieldhouse and Michigan Community College Athletic Association Western Conference play by hosting Glen Oaks Community College. Southwestern Michigan will also be at home Saturday when it hosts Oakland Community College.