Box Score RICHFIELD, Utah (April 3, 2021) -- Coming off one of the most stunning come-from-behind victories in program history on Friday night—overcoming a 14-10 deficit in game five against Southern Idaho—the third-ranked and top-seeded Snow College women's volleyball team recorded a three-set victory over the number-two seed Utah State Eastern on Saturday to win its second-straight Region XVIII Tournament Championship. With the win, the Badgers have punched their ticket to the NJCAA National Championship Tournament later this month in West Plains, Missouri. This year will mark the third straight trip to the national championship tournament for Snow. 

"After last night's win, I'm not sure how many people saw this one coming today," Snow College head coach Jeff Reynolds said. "Maybe everyone thought we'd be tired or that we would be mentally and physically exhausted after such a tough match last night, but this is tournament season. We've learned a thing or two about showing up for the big games over the past couple years. You have to come ready to play every time you step on the court. We talked to our team about that, and talked about just taking one point at a time, or even just one serve, one pass, one set, or one swing at a time -- whatever was needed to stay focused on what it was that we came here to do."

Much like game five in Friday's match against Southern Idaho, the Badgers found themselves with a nine-point deficit, trailing 15-6. And, much like Friday's match, the Badgers caught fire and finished the first set outscoring the Eagles, 19-7 to finish the set, including a 7-0 run behind the serve of sophomore Jentry Ison. Snow picked up the first set victory, 25-22.

"Jentry's serving was on point," Reynolds said. "Her serving was integral in getting us back in the game. When we finally closed the gap, it was 18-18 and then it was just a matter of execution. We had good passing and we were able to run our offense. Our defense also came up big, especially our blocking, forced them to take shots they might not otherwise take."

The Badger defense forced USUE to hit a negative -.050 for the match, including 19 kills on 100 attempts with 24 errors. Snow's defense also out-blocked USUE 12-5 for the match. 

In the second set, the Badgers took a sizable lead, but this time it was the Eagles who came storming back and tied things up late in the match. Snow held on and outlasted USUE, 25-21. In the third set, however, it was all Snow College as the defending Region XVIII Champions went on to a 25-15 victory. 

Sophomore Lydia Montague led the team with a match-high 16 kills on 27 attempts to hit. 370 for the match. Freshman Macie Gordon added nine kills on 15 swings to hit .467, while sophomore Bridgett Talia had 8 kills on 26 attempts. Macie Short was credited with 37 assists in the win, and had nine digs. Talia led the team with 13 digs. Montague, Talia, and Gordon were each named to the Region XVIII All-Tournament Team. Montague was named tournament MVP. 

As the Region XVIII and Rocky Mountain District Champions, Snow will now await the seeding and pairing announcement from the NJCAA, which will occur on Monday April 5, beginning at 3 p.m. (MT).