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BILLINGS, Mont. – Montana State Billings came from behind and downed visiting Alaska Fairbanks 3-1 (23-25, 25-18, 26-20, 25-21) in a thrilling four-set match at Alterowitz Gymnasium Thursday evening. With the victory, the Yellowjackets improved to 2-12 on the year and 2-4 in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference, while Alaska Fairbanks fell to 4-8 and 2-4 in conference play.
“It was a good win tonight against a solid opponent,” MSUB head coach Steve Smith said. “I thought we were a lot more ready tonight and that we're really showing signs of coming together. Our middle-hitter offense got on track, which is a reflection of the quality passing.”
The Yellowjackets were led by 15 kills from sophomore Geneva Blunt while senior Jennifer Boe added 11 kills. Junior Brooke Tolman had 39 assists and freshman Adrienne Kelso came up with 18 digs to lead the team. Junior Melissa Porter was deadly at the net as she had four solo block and four block assists.
As a team, MSUB hit .154 for the match with 46 kills and 26 errors. The team had 44 assists and 55 digs to go along with nine total blocks.
The Nanooks were led by a game-high 17 kills from Tereza Bendlova. She transferred to UAF from Division I University of South Alabama this year. Mandy Grierson had 36 assists and Jordyn Montgomery and Allison Oddy had 16 and 12 digs, respectively. As a team, UAF hit .101 with 40 kills and 27 errors. 12 of the 27 errors came from the service line.
The match started out as a back-and-forth affair as neither team gained much of a lead throughout the first set. UAF held the lead through the majority of the set, but the Yellowjackets took a 22-21 lead on a kill by sophomore Jody Lutz.
After a timeout by UAF, the Nanooks benefitted from two MSUB miscues for a 23-22 lead. Lutz got another kill to tie it at 23, but UAF rattled off the last two points including an ace for the set-winner.
The Jackets came out firing on all cylinders in the second set as they rattled off nine consecutive points to build a 20-10 lead. UAF closed to within seven, but MSUB evened the match at 1-1 with a 25-18 win heading into intermission.
MSUB hit the best of the night at .233 with 13 kills and six errors in the second set. In addition, the Jackets held UAF to negative hitting (.-034) with just five kills for the Nanooks and six errors.
The third set was much like the first as the teams basically traded points. The Nanooks held a 22-20 lead, but a kill from Boe and an ace from Lutz tied the match at 23. UAF regained the lead for set point, but back-to-back service aces from sophomore Hannah Johnson gave the Jackets the victory and a 2-1 lead, 26-24.
MSUB fought back from minimal deficits through the first half of the fourth set and tied it at 17 on another service ace. After a UAF timeout, the Yellowjackets closed the match with a 9-4 run for a 25-21 victory.
The Yellowjackets return to action Saturday at 7 p.m. at Alterowitz Gymnasium as they host Alaska Anchorage and close the home stand Monday versus cross-town rival Rocky Mountain College at 7 p.m. Fans can access live streaming and live stats by logging on to www.msubsports.com.
