OPENING SERVE: The Snow College volleyball team will head to Taylorsville for the Region 18 Tournament. The Badgers will take on No. 17 College of Southern Idaho in the first round Wednesday at 7:00 p.m.

Last weekend, the Badgers swept their final regular-season conference games, handing No. 5 Salt Lake Community College its first conference loss, 3-1, and Colorado Northwestern Community College, 3-0. 

The Badgers are in third place in the Scenic West Athletic Conference standings with a record of 6-4. They sit behind SLCC (9-1) and CSI (7-3). The Badgers are ahead of Utah State University Eastern (4-6). 

KNOW YOUR FOE: CSI holds an overall record of 18-8 and a 7-3 conference record. The Golden Eagles' losses in conference play came against SLCC twice (3-0, 3-0) and USUE (3-0).

CSI defeated the Badgers in both of their regular-season meetings, 3-1 in Ephraim and 3-2 in Twin Falls, Idaho. The Golden Eagles' matches against Snow College were their only conference games that went past three sets. 

The Badgers are 9-27 all-time against CSI with a 1-4 record in the Region 18 Tournament. The Badgers won their most recent tournament meeting in 2020, 3-2. 

LAST TIME OUT: The first set began as a back-and-forth fight, and it was tied at 6-6 early in the period. This trend continued until the end of the set as the Badgers broke away to take eight of the last 11 points to win the first set 25-23. 

The second set was tightly contested; both teams traded points as the Badgers held a slight 13-10 lead. The Bruins were able to tie the score at 20, but the Badgers would go on a 5-2 run to close out the set 25-22. 

The third set saw both sides go on runs early to get it to a 13-10 lead for SLCC by the middle of the set. The Badgers got the period back to 17-17. The Bruins were able to keep the Badgers at bay as they closed the third set 25-20. 

The final set started with the Badgers as they took a commanding 9-2 lead early, although the Bruins weren't going down without a fight as they stormed back to tie the set at 13. SLCC would then go on a run of its own to take a 22-18 lead. The Badgers would win the next four points to tie it at 22-22. 

The Badgers would go on to win four of the next six points to take the set 26-24 and the match 3-1, handing the Bruins their first conference loss of the season. With the win, the Badgers locked down their position as the three seed in the Region 18 Tournament.  

After the match with SLCC, Snow College turned its attention to CNCC the following day to close out the regular season. 

The first set opened with the Badgers in control as they went up 16-4 by the midway point. Snow College would cruise on to close the first set 25-7. 

The second set saw the Spartans keep it close early as both teams were tied at four. The Badgers would start to pull away, but CNCC went on a 5-1 run to keep the score close at 12-10. The Badgers would then go on a 13-2 run to close the second set 25-12. 

The Badgers opened the final set with the first eight points and continued to pile on the offense. The Badgers continued their run with CNCC finding points here and there as the Badgers went up 21-4 by the late stages of the period. CNCC would win four of the final eight rallies to bring the final score to 25-8 for the Badgers. 

UP NEXT: If the Badgers defeat CSI, they will face the winner of SLCC and USUE in the championship game held Thursday at 1:00 p.m. in Taylorsville. For video streaming and live stat information, visit snowbadgers.com.