COOS BAY — The Southwestern Oregon Community College volleyball team finished the regular season on a high note, gaining momentum for the NWAACC tournament with a victory over visiting Umpqua on Wednesday night.

Southwestern coach John Speasl found time on the court for all 15 of his players as the Lakers beat the Riverhawks in four games, 25-10, 25-22, 21-25, 25-11.

The Lakers were dominant in the two games where the top unit played the entire way.

“It was good to play well like that,” said Southwestern libero Taylor Scott.

The Lakers were coming off a pair of home losses last weekend to Chemeketa and Linn-Benton and wanted to build momentum for the upcoming tournament, which starts next Thursday at Gresham.

“It was really important ... to get us on the right track,” said Christie Wisel, one of a number of sophomores who saw the team improve from a squad that missed the playoffs last year to one that went 6-4 in NWAACC South Region play this fall.

“Last year was a rebuilding year,” Wisel said. “It’s a great team this year.”

The Lakers feel they’re capable of contending for the title next week. They won a game against top-ranked and unbeaten Chemeketa in both of their league matches, and have fared well in crossover tournaments against some of the teams from other regions they might meet next week.

“It will be nice to show what we’re capable of doing,” Wisel said.

The Lakers did that at times Wednesday, especially in the first and last games, which weren’t close.

Southwestern jumped out early in the first game. Kristine Kosinski opened the set with a powerful kill to start an impressive night for Southwestern’s offense.

Rose Mattson had three of her team-high 12 kills during a six-point stretch that also included kills by Kosinski and Katie Jolliffe as the Lakers surged to a 9-1 lead. Umpqua was never closer than six points down in the set again. Southwestern setter Jessica Bond had 11 service points in the game, including an ace in the final run, and Southwestern had a total of 13 kills as a team.

Speasl was liberal with his substitutions the next two games.

The Lakers rallied from a 17-10 deficit in the second game, which the Lakers finished on a kill just inside the baseline by Wisel. But Southwestern wasn’t able to overcome a similar deficit in the third game.

The Lakers took charge of the final set early, with five service points each by Bond and Mattson. Jolliffe added four of her 10 kills during a five-point stretch that put the game out of reach for Umpqua.

Kosinski added nine kills in the match, while Bond had a busy day with eight kills — several on tips and a few when she was playing more as an outside hitter in the middle games — to go with 35 assists and 32 digs. Mattson had a great all-around match with 17 digs to go with her 12 kills, while Jolliffe had 12 digs.

The Lakers had 10 different players record kills in the match, including several each from Wisel and Mykell Zimmer, a pair of seniors from Alaska.

Scott, Jolliffe and Mattson all had strong nights passing in serve-receive.

Speasl liked what he saw in the final regular-season match, especially the team’s defense, which made a number of great saves during the match.

“One thing that’s fun about this team is they really keep the ball alive,” he said. “They’ve just got this knack.

“Not only were we keeping the ball alive, we won a lot of those long rallies.”

Meanwhile, the team’s versatile offense can be a big asset next week.

“We don’t need to rely on just one person,” Wisel said.

The Lakers also have the benefit of an experienced setter in Bond.

“She’s a really confident player,” Wisel said.

Scott, a freshman from Marshfield, has been impressed with the entire team this season.

“We have real talented girls,” she said, adding that she’s excited to see how the Lakers perform next week.

“If we play like we can play, we can get deep into that tournament,” Speasl said. “If we put it together, we can play with the best of them.”

But, he cautioned, the Lakers can’t play like they did at times in the middle two games Wednesday.

“We have to keep the pressure on them.”

Before the match, Speasl recognized the team’s sophomores — Bond, Zimmer, Wisel and Aubri Ann Finch — as well as three players who are freshmen in volleyball eligibility, but sophomores in school, and might not be back next year — Kosinski, Emma Chitwood and Karen Jensen.

Soccer loss

Bellevue eliminated Southwestern from the men’s soccer playoffs, topping the visiting Lakers 3-1 on Wednesday.

“The kids played really well,” said Southwestern coach Ray Fabien. “It’s too bad we made a couple mental errors.”

Bellevue got off to a quick start, getting a goal by Slavic Denega in the third minute.

“It took us a little while to get settled,” Fabien said.

Diego Robayo added a goal in the 31st minute, and the score stayed 2-0 deep into the second half. Vini Oliveira scored for Bellevue in the 84th minute, while Juan Guitron got Southwestern’s goal in the 89th minute.

“Bellevue’s a very good team,” Fabien said. “They moved the ball around really well. They’re very quick, a very seasoned, veteran team.”

The Lakers finished the year 3-14-2 overall while playing with an extremely young roster.

“Hopefully the 21 freshmen I have this year and the players coming in next year will do a lot better,” Fabien said.