The Wayne State College volleyball team looks to continue their early success as the Wildcats set their sights on the Colorado Premier Challenge.
WSC sits at 4-0 on the season after a fruitful trip to the Eckerd College Tournament in St. Petersburg, Florida. The Wildcats had three consecutive sweeps over Adelphi University, Emory & Henry College, and Saint Leo University, and finished with a four-set victory over the host Eckerd.
Last season, the Wildcats entered the Colorado Premier Challenge with a matchup against the University of Texas at Tyler, who the Wildcats defeated in straight sets. The Wildcats then were able to fend off the No. 19 team at the time in Regis University, 3-1. Another sweep, this time against No. 13 West Florida, set up a championship match against rival Concordia-St. Paul. This matchup saw CSP ranked second in the nation against the third-ranked Wildcats. The Golden Bears came out on top in a five-set battle.
This year, the Wildcats will look to make a repeat appearance in the championship to continuing their early-season success. The tournament will be a great chance for WSC to see top-level opponents, as the pool will once again be made up of tough opponents, with multiple top 25 teams in the field.
The Wildcats enter the field as the top ranked team, boasting the No. 2 ranking nationally. Ost of the field also boasts national rankings. No. 3 MSU Denver, No. 4 Missouri-St. Louis, No. 5 Concordia-St. Paul, No. 9 West Texas A&M, No. 13 Chaminade, No. 17 Central Missouri, No. 23 Lewis and No. 24 Regis are all ranked competition. Seattle Pacific and Dallas Baptist are both receiving votes to get into the top 25 and Wheeling, the final team in the competition, made the national tournament last season.
The Wildcats arguably got an easy draw, as No. 13 Chaminade and Wheeling will be their pool play games. Chaminade will be a tough opening draw, as the Silverswords have already faced multiple ranked opponents. Sitting at 4-2 on the season, Chaminade’s two losses came at the hands of then No. 21 Cal Poly Pomona and Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference contender and then No. 10 St. Cloud State. Chaminade has also beaten two teams in the Top 10, sweeping both then top-ranked and defending national champion Cal State Los Angeles as well as then No. 8 Cal State San Bernardino.
Wheeling, although not seeing the same level of competition, has faced ranked teams as well. The Cardinals sit at 1-3 on the season, with two of those losses against then No. 20 West Florida 3-1 and a sweep at the hands of the NSIC’s then No. 11 Southwest Minnesota State.
The Colorado Premier Challenge will kick off at 11 a.m. CST on Friday, September 13 and will conclude on Saturday, September 14. All games will take place on the campuses of MSU Denver and Regis.