September 27, 2007          
                                                                  

Vikings Sweep Conference Lead from Jackets
Box Score
Game Photos
MSUB Season Stats

BILLINGS, Mont. – Preseason conference favorite Western Washington University was in control wire to wire Thursday night, defeating Montana State Billings 30-23, 30-22, 30-21 in GNAC volleyball action.  The win vaulted the Vikings into a tie with Western Oregon for first place in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference.  Western Oregon was idle Thursday.

MSU Billings lost the hold it had held on first place for the past three weeks, falling to 5-2 in the conference and 11-4 overall.  The Vikings are 5-1 in the GNAC and 9-4 overall.

"Western Washington played really consistent," said Yellowjacket head coach Sara Schaub.  "They have one of the best defenses in the conference.  It shook us up a little, and we tried to do too much on offense individually.  We ended up making more errors because of that.  I thought our defense did do a good job.  We had three people in double-digit digs.  We just had trouble putting the ball away." 

Western Washington hit a solid .280 for the match while holding the Yellowjackets to a .131 hitting percentage.  It was the Jackets’ lowest match hitting percentage since Aug. 31.

Only five Vikings recorded kills in the match, but Western Washington was efficient and benefited from 24 Yellowjacket errors.  The Vikings’ Emily Castro led all players with 14 kills on a .333 hitting percentage.  Jaime Anderson added 10 kills. 

Angie Alvord, Marissa Hill, and Tiana Roma combined for another 23 kills.  Anderson and Roma were each in on four blocks.  Libero Courtney Schneider picked up a match-high 17 digs. 

The Yellowjackets didn’t have a player reach double digits for kills.  Jennifer Boe (Casper, Wyo.), Devon Crotteau (Casper, Wyo.) and Jessica Lechner (Pompeys Pillar) downed nine kills apiece.  Lechner had the best night at the net for MSUB, posting a .467 attack percentage.

Alicia Cazemier (Vauxhall, Alberta) was held to just seven kills on a career-low .000 attack percentage.  Boe, Stefanie Aladjova (Sofia, Bulgaria) and Nicole Kruse (Huntley Project) each had double-digit digs for the Jackets.

MSU Billings will try to bounce back on Saturday when the Yellowjackets host Central Washington.  The Wildcats entered Thursday’s match at Seattle at 3-2 in the conference and 4-10 overall.  First serve is set for 7 p.m. at Alterowitz Gym.  The game will be video streamed live through Penn Atlantic at www.pennatlantic.com.  Live stats will also be available at www.msubillings.edu/athletics by clicking on the live broadcast link.

"We have to make sure we come out focused and ready to play," said Schaub.  "We need to learn from our mistakes and not make as many errors."