Lady Jackets Stumble at St. Edward’s (10/21/05)
Box Score

AUSTIN, TX – Essentially one loss from being eliminated from qualifying for the conference tournament, defending league champion St. Edward’s defeated the Montana State-Billings volleyball team Friday night, 3-1 (30-27, 16-30, 30-15, 32-30).  The Hilltoppers improved to 8-18 overall and 3-5 in Heartland Conference play.  The Yellowjackets had their five-match winning streak snapped, falling to 17-5 overall and 6-3 in the HLC.  The same two teams will meet Saturday at 2:00 p.m.

“St. Edward’s did a good job of controlling the game,” said Yellowjacket coach Pa’ulasi Matavao.  “We never had control of the game the whole night.  They did a good job of setting up their blocks.  We came out flat to start with.  We still had a chance to win, but we just didn’t control it.  We’re going to work on some things and hopefully we can get a win tomorrow.” 

The Hilltoppers were in command for most of the night with the exception of the second game.  After hitting a combined .087 in the opening game, MSU Billings dominated game two by out hitting the Hilltoppers .343 to .028.  But St. Ed’s bounced back to cruise to a 15 point win in the third game and hung on for a narrow victory in the fourth and deciding game. 

The trio of Kristen Lozano, Lauren Munselle, and Angela Vorpahl combined for 37 of the Hilltoppers’ 51 kills.  Munselle finished with 14, Vorpahl had 13, and Lozano added 10.  St. Edward’s was effective at the net, posting 11.5 blocks in the match.  Lozano was in on six of them. 

The Yellowjackets had only two players with attack percentages over .100.  Alicia Cazemier (So., Vauxhall, Alberta) led all players with 22 kills and a .457 attack percentage.  She was also in on five blocks.  Ali Watson (Jr., Calgary, Alberta) added 12 kills on a .106 attack percentage.  She also hada 13 digs.  Jessica Bratton (Jr., Casper, WY) finished with 11 kills and three blocks.  Nicole Kruse (So., Huntley, MT) picked up a match-high 22 digs.  Setter Natalie Bills (Jr., Provo, UT) handed out 49 assists. 

A Montana State-Billings win on Saturday will secure a spot in the four-team conference tournament for the Yellowjackets.  A victory by St. Edward’s will put the Hilltoppers back into contention and muddy the tournament picture.  The top four teams after the 12-match conference schedule will meet in Austin November 11-12 for the conference championship tournament.