2007 Volleyball Weekly Release #2 (August 28)

Click HERE for this week's Yellowjacket Volleyball Sports Show featuring head coach Sara Schaub and senior Nicole Kruse

On Friday, the Jackets drew 18th-ranked Nebraska-Omaha for their season opener.  After a close first game in which the Jackets rallied to tie at 29-29 before falling 32-30, the Mavericks rolled to wins of 30-16 and 30-17 to finish the sweep.  As a team, MSU Billings had an attack percentage of -.008.  The last time the Yellowjackets had a negative attack percentage for an entire match was Sept. 1, 1998, against Montana State in Bozeman.

The Yellowjackets rebounded in their second match on Friday, sweeping University of Mary 30-26, 30-28, 30-23.  Alicia Cazemier had a match-high 16 kills on a .433 attack percentage.  Devon Crotteau and Jennifer Boe each had 14 kills, and Jessica Lechner added seven.  Setter Stephania Aladjova handed out 48 assists and dropped in six service aces.

Alicia Cazemier

Click HERE to listen to Coach Schaub's comments about Friday's matches.

On Saturday morning the Jackets won their second match in a row, sweeping Colorado State-Pueblo 30-24, 30-28, 30-27.  Cazemier and Crotteau led the way with 18 and 12 kills respectively.  Crotteau also had five aces and a match-high 14 digs.

The winning streak ended Saturday afternoon in a four-game loss to Minnesota State Moorhead, 30-24, 30-27, 23-30, 30-25.  Cazemier and Crotteau again emerged as the Jackets' top hitters.  Cazemier had 19 kills, seven blocks, and a career-best 12 digs.  Crotteau added 18 kills and 19 digs.  Aladjova had 48 assists for the second time.  Libero Nicole Kruse picked up a career-high 30 digs, and sophomore Katrina Solomon was in on a career-high seven blocks.  Lechner also had seven blocks, one short of her career high.

Click HERE for Coach Schaub's comments about Saturday's matches.

Click HERE for Devon Crotteau's blog about the past week.

AROUND THE GNAC: Northwest Nazarene’s 4-0 start, including a win over nationally 13^th ranked Chico State, is its best since 2001 when it opened the season with four wins against NAIA opponents. . .Joining Dranginis on the all-tournament team at Sonoma State was NNU setter Allison James and Western Oregon outside hitter Kayla Mainer.  James was credited with 164 assists (10.25 per game) and 55 digs.  She also had 26 kills.   Mainer had 61 kills and 66 digs in leading the Wolves to a 2-2 record. . .Western Oregon also got 38 kills from Kaley Kostrba and 36 from Sharon Peterson and 101 digs from Claire Carpenter in the tournament. . .Nikole Thompson had 59 kills and 62 digs and Libby Graff had 50 kills and 11 blocks for Seattle University, which lost three of four matches at Sonoma.  Two of the their losses came in fifth games. . .Joining Hill on the all-tournament team at Hilo was UAF’s Megan Thigpen, who led the Nanooks with 61 kills and 51 digs and also had nine aces and six blocks. . .Rhea Cardwell (48), Rachel Kidwell (45) and Joanna Johnson (43) combined for 136 kills as Alaska Anchorage divided four matches at Ferris State. . .Alicia Cazemier had 59 kills and Devon Crotteau had 51 as Montana State Billings split four matches at Omaha, Neb., in the coaching debut of Sara Schaub.  Cazemier also had a team-best 18 blocks. . .Angie Alvord had 12 blocks, one short of the GNAC single-match record, in Western Washington’s 3-2 win over Cal Baptist at Tampa, Fla.  Jaime Anderson had 69 kills, 39 digs and 11 aces as the Vikings split four matches, losing in five games to Colorado – Colorado Springs and in three to No. 1 ranked Tampa. . . Allora Dehan led Saint Martin’s with 31 kills and 17 blocks as the Saints lost four matches at Nebraska Kearney.

GNAC PLAYERS-OF-THE-WEEK: Cammy Dranginis, Northwest Nazarene (MB, 6-0, So., Nampa, ID - Skyview) was selected the Most Valuable Player as she led the Crusaders to a 4-0 record in the Seawolf Classic at Rohnert Park.  Dranginis had 62 kills and hit for a .418 percentage (62-11-122).  She also had a team-best 21 blocks and also contributed 18 digs.

HONORABLE MENTION: Alyssa Given, Seattle Pacific (OH, 5-10, Sr., Salinas, CA – Notre Dame) had 66 kills, 14 aces and 12 blocks as the Falcons won three of four matches, including an upset of No. 4 ranked UC San Diego.  She had 22 kills against the Tritons. . .Jessica Hill, Alaska Fairbanks (RS, 6-0, So., Colorado Springs, CO - Doherty) had 53 kills, 11 service aces and 13 blocks to earn all-tournament honors and lead the Nanooks to three wins in four matches in the Hawaiian Style Classic.  Hill also had 24 digs.

AROUND THE REGION:  Led by Northwest Nazarene’s 4-0 record against CCAA teams, GNAC teams posted a winning record (11-10) against Pacific Region teams in the opening weekend, including 9-8 against CCAA teams and 2-2 against PacWest opponents.  Overall, GNAC teams were 19-21.

Click HERE for the Great Northwest Athletic Conference weekly release
 

Elizabeth Serra-Hsu, a freshman outside hitter, led the team with 3.77 kills per game.  She hit a respectable .205 in her first weekend of collegiate action.  Kaity Edmiston added 2.77 kpg.  Celeste Cashel averaged 3.15 digs per game.

All-time vs. MSUB: CSM leads series 4-2
Last Meeting: CSM won 3-1 at Golden, Colo., on Sept. 2, 2005
 

Jessica Bird and Drew Choules each averaged at least 2.2 kills per game last weekend.  Bird and Krista McCr4acken each hit at least .250.  McCracken also led the team with 0.83 blocks per game.  Ashley Loftsgard avereged a team-high 4.36 digs and had 11 aces in 14 games. 

All-time vs. MSUB: Mesa State leads series 5-0
Last Meeting: Mesa State won 3-0 at Mesa on Sept. 3, 2005
 

Erin Osleson was the go-to hitter for Western last week.  She averaged 3.25 kills per game on a .191 attack percentage.  She also led the team in blocking at 1.03 bpg.  Jamie Hamsa added 3.12 kgp.  The Mountaineers had just a .103 team attack percentage for the four matches while allowing opponents to hit .174.

All-time vs. MSUB: MSUB leads series 2-1
Last Meeting: MSUB won 3-0 at Colorado Springs tourney on Sept. 3, 2005
 

Coach Jim Callender's Mustangs were RMAC champions last year, their first year in the league.  Their off to a 3-1 start this season with wins over Texas-Permian Basin, Grand Canyon, and Winona State.  WNMU's only loss was to 22nd-ranked Rockhurst.

Tirzah Armenta, a transfer who earned second team all-region honors at St. Andrew's Presbyterian College, lit up the stat sheet last week with 4.62 kills per game.  She hit .277 for the four matches.  Natali Murdock added 3.08 kpg.  Veteran setter Courtney Heiser averaged 11.62 assists.  Defensively, Alzie Auelua, a freshman from Aiea, Hawaii, had 11 blocks in just seven games.

All-time vs. MSUB: WNMU leads series 21-9
Last Meeting: MSUB won 3-0 at NCAA Tournament, Canyon, Tex., Nov. 9, 2006
 

A player had 30 or more kills in a match — Nov. 12, 2004 (Jessica Bratton, 33 vs. Western New Mexico)

A player had 25-29 kills in a match — Sept. 30, 2006 (Jessica Bratton, 25 vs. Texas A&M-International)

A player had 60 or more assists in a match — Sept. 2, 2006 (Natalie Bills, 66 vs. Fort Lewis)

A player had 25 or more digs in a match — Aug. 25, 2007 (Nicole Kruse (30) vs. Minn. St. Moorhead)

A player had 5 or more aces in a match — Aug. 25, 2007 (Devon Crotteau, 5 vs. Colo. St.-Pueblo)

A player had 10 or more blocks in a match — Aug. 25, 2007 (Alicia Cazemier, 10 vs. Colo. St.-Pueblo)

A player had 5-9 blocks in a match — Aug. 25, 2007 (Solomon/Cazemier/Lechner vs. Minn. St. Moorhead)

The team had an attack percentage over.300 — Oct. 20, 2006 (.400 vs. Oklahoma Panhandle State)

The team had 70 or more kills in a match — Oct. 17, 2006 (72 vs. Rocky Mountain College)

The team had 70 or more assists in a match — Sept. 2, 2006 (77 vs. Fort Lewis)

The team had 100 or more digs in a match — Sept. 8, 2006 (116 vs. Central Okla.)

The team had 10 or more blocks in a match — Aug. 25, 2007 (15.0 vs. Minn. St. Moorhead)

Kills
Season – 1. Diane Vargo (526)
Career – 1. Jessica Bratton (1,376); 3. Alicia Cazemier (1,069)

Assists
Season – 1. Natalie Bills (1,327)
Career – 1. Gina Langer (4,354)

Digs
Season – 1. Diane Vargo (440)
Career – 1. Gina Langer (1,530); 7. Nicole Kruse (860)

Service Aces
Season – 1. Nicole Kruse (62)
Career – 1. Gina Langer (178); 4. Nicole Kruse (106); 6. Alicia Cazemier (89)

Total Blocks
Season – 1. Deb Dianda (169)
Career – 1. Alicia Cazemier (421) 

Solo Blocks
Season – 1. Alicia Cazemier (67)
Career – 1. Alicia Cazemier (144)

Block Assists
Season – 1. Deb Dianda (119)
Career – 1. Jody Newberry (285); 2. Alicia Cazemier (277); 18. Jessica Lechner (86)

Attack Percentage
Season – 1. Andrea Donahue (.373)
Career – 1. Alicia Cazemier (.312); 3. Jessica Lechner (.264)

Kills per Game
Season – 1. Diane Vargo (4.61)
Career – 1. Ali Watson (4.10); 6. Alicia Cazemier (3.39) 

Assists per Game
Season – 1. Natalie Bills (12.52)
Career – 1. Natalie Bills (12.16)

Blocks per Game
Season – 1. Alicia Cazemier (1.52)
Career – 1. Alicia Cazemier (1.34) 

Digs per Game
Season – 1. Connie Meyer (4.75)
Career – 1. Connie Meyer (3.96); 3. Nicole Kruse (3.84)

Games Played
Career – 1. Gina Langer (462); 10. Alicia Cazemier (315); 16. Nicole Kruse (224); 17. Jessica Lechner (221)

Sara Schaub was hired as the Yellowjackets' tenth head coach since the program was reinstated in 1984. Schaub’s coaching experience was most recently at Division I Eastern Michigan University where she was the first assistant since 2002.  She helped the Eagles to the program’s first Mid-America Conference West Division Championship in 2005.  Schaub’s responsibilities were recruiting, practice organization, and leading a successful volleyball camp program at Eastern.   

“I am extremely excited and honored to be the next head coach at MSU Billings,” said Schaub.  “I am very grateful to Dr. Gray and the entire search committee for giving me this opportunity.  I feel very fortunate to join such an upbeat and visionary department.  I look forward to working with the student-athletes, building an exciting program, and being part of the Billings community.”

Schaub, originally from Huron, Ohio, was a four-year starter for the Eastern Michigan Eagles as an outside hitter.  Schaub is the only player in Mid-American Conference history to average over four kills and four digs per game in the same season.  She currently holds the record at Eastern Michigan for career attack attempts and is second for career kills and digs, sixth for career aces, and seventh for career block assists.

Schaub graduated from Eastern Michigan in 2001 with a Bachelor’s in Business Administration in Accounting Information Systems.  She also holds a Master of Science in Accounting, graduating Magna Cum Laude from EMU in 2002.  In her free time, Schaub is an avid beach volleyball player and has participated in the Association of Volleyball Professionals, Extreme Volleyball Professionals, and Midwest Professional Volleyball Association, winning many events.

Jay Christensen begins the season as a first-year assistant coach for the Lady Yellowjackets. With a bachelor’s degree in Exercise Science-Sports Medicine, he also is a second year graduate student in the athletic training program. 

Christensen moved to Billings from Laie, Hawaii, and comes with a varied athletic background. All-state in soccer and four-time state champion in swimming, he played soccer for a U-17 team throughout Europe and after high school helped represent the United States, swimming in Sydney, Australia, in 2000. 

He enjoys surfing, golfing, swimming, basketball, soccer and reading.  Jay, his wife Cassandra and son Kai live in Billings.

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