Western Michigan Christian’s quest for a River Valley Conference title got back on track Thursday at the expense of one of its rivals.

The Warriors suffered their first league loss in a tough 5-set tiebreaker to Tri-unity last week.

Thursday though host Western Michigan Christian improved to 2-1 in league play by sweeping Muskegon Catholic Central 25-18, 25-12, 25-22.

“We’ve got some tough matches in this league but I think we can pull it off if we keep working hard and play together,” said Warrior junior outside hitter Rachel Bruinsma. “I thought we played really well today. It was a big match for us.”

Western Michigan Christian (10-3-1) proved to be the dominant team at the net.

Bruinsma, junior middle hitter Vanessa Eekhoff and senior middle hitter Elyse Ray all stand close to 6-0 and changed the complexion of the game.

The Warriors passed the ball well enough against the tough-serving Crusaders, which allowed Bruinsma to strike for 10 kills, Eekhoff for 10 kills and Ray for eight kills.

“I thought we played really well,” said Warriors coach Bret Noordhoff. “You still have to pass the ball to run a good offense. I thought our offense could have been smoother but we still did pretty well.”

Eekhoff and Bruinsma recorded three blocks each and Bruinsma added four aces.

Muskegon Catholic (5-8-1) hung tough in the first and third sets, leading in the third set 16-14 before the Warriors rallied.

The Crusaders led 7-2 early in the final set behind the lethal jump serve of junior Kendall Wickstrom, who connected for three of her seven aces in a 5-point stretch.

Wickstrom and company never were able to finish off a set strong though as they fell to 0-2 in River Valley action.

“We’ve been having a tough time maintaining our intensity,” said Crusaders coach Katie Haynes. “It’s like riding a roller coaster at times. We just didn’t execute against a very good team.”

Wickstrom paced the Crusaders with 11 kills, seven aces, seven digs and two blocks. Maddie Sesselmann made five blocks and Liz DeYoung added four kills and four digs.

Warrior setter Julie Merz collected 22 assists and libero Ashley Ott added 12 digs.