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LANSING — The four-match winning streak of the Southwestern Michigan College volleyball team came to an end at Lansing Community College Thursday night.

But the Roadrunners did not go down without a fight against the Michigan Community College Athletic Association Western Conference leading Stars.

Lansing (23-2, 8-1 Western Conference) defeated Southwestern Michigan (17-9, 5-4 Western Conference) 25-12, 25-22. 23-25 and 25-6.

“Tonight was a great challenge and a chance for us to measure how we have improved against the number one team in the conference,” said SMC Coach Jenny Nate. “The last time we played them they swept us. Tonight, we took a set from them and had the chance to take two. We were able to control the runs for the majority of the match in two of the four sets and never gave up despite the score in any set.”

Nate said the score of the final set was not indicative of how her team competed against the Stars.

“In the final set, we got caught in a rotation and struggled to get out of it,” she said. “We have been working hard to get first ball kills in every rotation. We have been doing that the last few weeks, but Lansing adjusted their block on us that final set and we started to make errors which led to the score margin in set four. We went down swinging though, and these are the teams we need to be playing. These are the matches that teach us to analyze and get tougher and smarter as a team.”

Sophomores Nikki Nate (Niles), Bianca Hobson (Kalamazoo/Loy Norrix) and Shayla Shears (Edwardsburg) led the Roadrunners offensively with 10, eight and seven kills, respectively. Nate also had 11 digs, four points and two blocks, while Hobson had five digs and three blocks. Shears finished the night with nine points, four digs and a pair of blocks.

Buchanan freshman Josie West contributed a team-high 16 digs, five points and three kills. Sophomores Juliette Schroeder (Sturgis) and Emma Beckman (Niles) had three kills each. Schroeder also had three blocks and two digs, while Beckman added 12 assists, six digs and two points to the SMC totals.

Freshman Anna Johnson (Niles) had 18 assists, 10 digs and six points. She also had a team-high two aces.

The Roadrunners will regroup on Friday before playing in a quad at Lake Michigan College on Saturday and at the Jayhawk Invitational in Muskegon on Sunday.

“I loved that despite the loss, my players had great attitudes after and understand that taking that set shows that when we put it all together — and maintain our highest level of play, we can beat any team out there,” Nate said.