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BENTON HARBOR — It was a big weekend for the Southwestern Michigan College volleyball team.

The Roadrunners rebounded from their loss to Lansing Community College on Thursday to sweep all four of its weekend opponents at the Lake Michigan College Quad and the Jayhawk Invitational.

 

LMC Quad

Southwestern Michigan defeated Harper College 25-22, 27-25 and 25-16 before completing the sweep on Saturday with a 25-13, 25-6 and 25-22 win over Kuyper College.

“We have really been gelling as a team the past two weeks, and I was really pleased to see us keep it rolling today,” said SMC Coach Jenny Nate. “We knew Harper was going to be a tough match with strong attackers, and we came out blocking like crazy and then putting the ball away offensively which allowed us to control the runs in all three sets. Once we finished that match, we moved on to take down Kuyper in three sets using our entire team for that victory.”

Nate, who team eclipsed the 20-win plateau for the first time since Southwestern Michigan brought back the sport in 2022, said getting her entire roster involved in matches throughout the season and its preparation when not in competition is paying dividends.

“The depth on our team has really been an asset this year, and we have been able to utilize all of our personnel in a lot of these victories,” she said. “Our hard work at practice is showing on the court, and we do a great job of having a total focus on the point in front of us set by set.”

Individual statistics from this match can be found by clicking here.

 

Jayhawk Invitational

On Sunday at Mona Shores High School, Southwestern Michigan defeated Montcalm Community College 25-21, 25-13, 25-14 and the Olivet University JV 25-14, 25-18, 25-13 to improve to 21-9 on the season.

“This was an important week and weekend for us,” Nate said. “We went 4-0 in the last 24 hours and 5-1 on the week [losing only to number one team in the conference Lansing.] We have played a lot of volleyball this weekend and have done a lot of traveling — and this is part of our strategy to make sure we peak on the court, physically and mentally, as we head into the homestretch of conference play. Our goal was to sweep all the teams we faced this weekend — to truly dominate and win every single set — and we did exactly that.”

The Roadrunner head back into Michigan Community College Athletic Association Western Conference play and the friendly confines of the 1st Source Bank Fieldhouse Tuesday when they host Kellogg Community College.

“Now, we will use this momentum to prepare tomorrow for Kellogg, who we face on Tuesday,” Nate said. “It’s been so much fun watching this team keep getting stronger and faster day after day and seeing them support each other and represent SMC with determination and grit. They know how to win together. And we are going to keep it rolling.”

Southwestern Michigan is currently third in the Western Conference standings with a 5-4 record.

Individual statistics from this match can be found by clicking here.