Yellowjackets Host Defending National Champs Monday and Tuesday (Sept. 21, 2003)

BILLINGS, MT – The MSU Billings volleyball team will face its toughest test of the year Monday and Tuesday when the Yellowjackets play host to defending NCAA II National Champion BYU-Hawaii.  The Seasiders enter the week ranked second in the nation with a 7-2 overall record.  The Yellowjackets are 3-6 after a convincing win over Rocky Mountain College last Wednesday.

Yellowjacket coach Pa’ulasi Matavao added size to the Yellowjackets’ outside positions in the off season to combat the big hitting teams in the Pacific West Conference.  This week’s matches will tell how effective that strategy will be this season.  Along with hosting BYU-Hawaii twice this week, the Yellowjackets will also host No. 15 Hawaii Pacific on Thursday and Friday.

As a team the Yellowjackets lead the PacWest with 2.47 blocks per game, and three of the top seven blockers in the conference wear “Yellowjackets” on their jerseys.  Brittany Uffelman (Fr., Thermopolis, WY) is second in the league with 1.13 blocks per game followed closely by teammate Katrina Dahlgren (Sr., Missoula, MT) at 1.12 blocks per game.  Cortney Metzler (Jr., Roundup, MT) is fifth in the PacWest with 1.10 blocks per game.

So far this season, MSU Billings has relied offensively on Olivia Munro (Jr., Toronto, Ontario) and Jessica Bratton (Fr., Casper, WY).  Munro leads the Jackets with 3.90 kills per game, ranking her ninth in the PacWest.  She also ranks fourth in the conference with 3.53 digs per game.  Bratton is second on the team with 3.10 kills per game and a .199 hitting percentage.  Dahlgren and Metzler both average over two kills per game and Dahlgren leads the Yellowjackets with a .244 hitting percentage. 

The Seasiders are led by a pair of sophomores who were All-Americans as freshmen last season.  Chun Yi Lin and Yu Chuan Weng, both from Taiwan, powered BYUH to conference, regional and national championships in their first season.  This year, Lin leads the PacWest with a .434 hitting percentage and is third in the conference with 4.41 kills per game.  Weng is fifth in the PacWest at 4.26 kills per game and seventh with 3.15 digs per game.  The Seasiders also feature the conference’s best setter in Kaala Lo, who is averaging 13.47 assists per game.

All matches this week will start at 7:00 p.m. at Alterowitz Gymnasium.