Lady Yellowjackets Try for First PacWest Win of the Season (Oct. 1, 2003) 

BILLINGS, MT – The road doesn’t get any easier for the MSU Billings volleyball team this week as they travel to Hawaii for four matches in five days.  The Yellowjackets (3-10 overall, 0-2 PacWest) are still looking for their first PacWest Conference win of the year after falling to No. 3 BYU-Hawaii and No. 11 Hawaii Pacific at home last week. 

The Yellowjackets open the weekend at Hawaii-Hilo (3-7, 0-1) Friday on the Big Island.  They will then fly to Honolulu to face Chaminade (6-4, 1-0) on Saturday.  After having Sunday off, MSUB will get its third shot at the third-ranked Seasiders on Monday and eleventh-ranked Sea Warriors on Tuesday.

The Yellowjackets have lost eight of their last nine dating back to September 5.  The only win in that stretch was a 3-0 sweep of Rocky Mountain.  Despite the lack of wins and the draining travel to Hawaii, the Yellowjackets enter the week optimistic.  They were competitive against Hawaii Pacific last Friday and will have a full-time setter for the first time since the opening weekend.

Kari Jones (Jr., Hermiston, OR) returns to the starting setter position after recovering from a concussion sustained at the opening weekend tournament in Colorado.  She split time last week with Natalie Bills (So., Provo, UT) and Alberta Letoa (Fr., Laie, HI).  Bills will miss the remainder of the season with a shoulder injury while the return of Jones will allow Letoa to return to her more natural position as a defensive specialist.

Olivia Munro (Jr., Toronto, Ontario) still leads the Yellowjackets with 3.62 kills and 3.26 digs per game.  She is ranked in the PacWest’s top ten in both categories.  Cortney Metzler (Jr., Roundup, MT), Jessica Bratton (Fr., Casper, WY) and Katrina Dahlgren (Sr., Missoula, MT) all average over two kills-per-game.  Brittany Uffelman (Sr., Thermopolis, WY), Metzler and Dahlgren are all tied for fifth in the PacWest with 1.00 blocks-per-game.