Roadrunners sweep Red Hawks in conference finale

Published 1:40 pm Wednesday, October 25, 2023

By Scott Novak

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DOWAGIAC — As the Southwestern Michigan College volleyball team sets its sights on postseason play, the Roadrunners will be heading into it with a full head of steam.

Southwestern Michigan capped its Michigan Community College Athletic Association Western Conference schedules with a sweep of arch rival Lake Michigan College at the 1st Source Bank Fieldhouse in its Dig Pink Night match Tuesday.

The Roadrunners (23-10, 7-5 Western Conference) defeated the Red Hawks 25-22, 25-14 and 25-17 to clinch third-place in the Western Conference standings. Their victory over Lake Michigan College knocked the Red Hawks out of their first-place tie with Lansing Community College atop the league standings.

Southwestern Michigan has won 10 of its last 12 matches, which included a six-match winning streak.

“We came out on a mission tonight,” said SMC Coach Jenny Nate. “Every single thing we did on the court was practiced and executed. This was a total team effort, and I’m incredibly proud of our teamwork, hustle, determination, and grit. We were playing to win. This was exactly the way we wanted to finish the conference season, plus, it’s great momentum heading into our match against Muskegon Thursday followed by the postseason tournament the following week. And I love that we did it on our home court.”

The Roadrunner behind the support of a huge home crowd, got on top of Lake Michigan (24-10, 9-2 Western Conference) and never let up.

Part of being able to gain the early lead in all three sets was the domination up front by sophomores Nikki Nate (Niles), Bianca Hobson (Kalamazoo/Loy Norrix) and freshman Josie West (Buchanan) who combined for 36 kills. The Roadrunners were also able to maintain that advantage once it got ahead with a strong service game, led by freshman Amanda Jones (New Buffalo), who led SMC with 17 points and a pair of aces. Nate and sophomore Shayla Shears (Edwardsburg) also had solid nights from the service line with eight points each and a combined three aces.

By controlling the net and delivering winning serve after winning serve, Southwestern Michigan was able to keep the Red Hawks’ top offensive player, freshman Jullian Bruckner (Niles) in check much of the match. Bruckner ended up with a team-high 10 kills and three blocks, but she was forced to watch long stretches of the match from the sidelines as Lake Michigan could not rotate her back onto the court.

“We studied a lot of film,” Nate said. “We focused on our power throughout and entire time. We focused on scoring, blocking, defense and every point being the aggressor. I want to say we focused on us and we controlled every rotation no matter what was happening and we were prepared for anything that would come at us.”

The Roadrunners were able to control the rotation by excelling in all three phases of the match. Southwestern Michigan had one of its best defensive matches of the season, which did not allow the Red Hawks to sustain their offense and make long runs.

Nate finished with a team-high 15 digs, while West finished with 12, sophomore Emma Beckman (Niles) eight and sophomore Elizabeth Stockdale (Brandywine) eight.

Marcellus freshman Jessica Hand led the Red Hawks with 13 digs, while sophomore Olivia Deeb (Wayland) had 10 digs. Deeb also had 16 assists.

Southwestern Michigan will wrap up its 2023 regular season by hosting Muskegon Community College at 6:30 p.m. Thursday. Lake Michigan will attempt to climb back into a tie with Lansing when they host the Stars Thursday night.

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