Bump, Set, Spike, Win, Repeat.

The Santa Monica College Corsairs men’s volleyball team is just three weeks away from playoffs, with a chance to win the California Community College Athletics Association Championship. Though SMC begins to transition into playoff mode, they still have three remaining games in the regular season, two being away.

With a win on Wednesday vs Long Beach City College, the Corsairs can clinch the first seed in their conference for the first time since 2008 and earn a bye in the first round of the playoffs.

“Earning the bye is a nice advantage that we’d be happy to have,” said Coach Mayer.

The Vikings are the toughest opponent on paper, with a record of 5-3 in the same conference as Santa Monica, 10-4 overall, and coming in off of back to back wins, defeating both LA Trade Tech and El Camino 3-0 respectively.

The last time these two teams battled, sets were decided by close margins, the scores reading 25-23, 23-25, 19-25, 17-25, ending with SMC winning three sets in a row after dropping the first.

“Long Beach is a great team and is a really fun and challenging environment to play in. I know the guys are looking forward to a battle in their gym,” said Mayer.

Following that game they will travel to face LA Pierce College, who is 3-6 in the conference, and 6-9 overall but are coming off a 3-1 victory over Moorpark.

In their last meeting, the Corsairs beat the Brahmas 3-1, as outside hitter Taylor Tattersall led the way with game high 19 kills. The Corsairs will definitely be looking for a similar, if not better, version of Tattersall on Friday.

Finally, the Corsairs will close their season with a match against Moorpark, whom the Corsairs beat 3-0 in their last meeting.

Last year, the Corsairs came up just short, being defeated in the final by Orange Coast College in five sets.

This year, the team wants to finish the job and has been demonstrating their hunger and tenacity for the title, winning every conference game so far, with a record of 9-0 in their conference and an overall record of 14-1.

“We’re excited for the opportunity to compete in the state playoffs. We know we’ll have to beat the best junior college teams in the state and country to win it all,” said Coach John Mayer. “We’re looking forward to the challenge.”