BILLINGS, Mont. – The Montana State Billings volleyball team returns to Great Northwest Athletic Conference play Thursday at Western Washington and Saturday at GNAC newcomer Simon Fraser. The Yellowjackets enter the week with a 2-14 record overall and a 2-5 mark in the conference. WWU enters the week ranked 17th nationally with a 9-2 record overall and a 6-1 mark in league play. Simon Fraser is 1-11 overall and 1-7 in the GNAC.
MSUB enters coming off its most disappointing performance of the season in a 3-0 loss to cross-town rival Rocky Mountain College Monday in Alterowitz Gymnasium. Despite the struggles this season, the Yellowjackets have shown signs of improvement throughout the year.
Leading the way for MSUB this season is senior Jennifer Boe who leads the team with 180 kills which ranks her eighth in the league at a 2.95 average. Junior Brooke Tolman leads the team in assists with 457 ranking her seventh in assists per game at a 7.49 average. Her 457 assists are the second-most in the league.
Sophomore Hannah Johnson and junior Melissa Porter are second and third on the team in kills, respectively, at 1002 and 101. Boe also leads the team in service aces with 16, while freshman Taylor Adams has 14 aces.
Defensively, the Jackets are led by Porter and sophomore Geneva Blunt. Porter leads the team with 14 solo blocks and 47 total blocks, while Blunt has 12 solo rejections and 38 total blocks. Porter ranks 12th in the league in blocks per game at a 0.77 clip and is tied for the league-lead in solo blocks. Blunt is 17th in the league at a 0.69 block average and is tied for third in solo blocks.
As a team, the Yellowjackets have 566 kills on the year for a 9.28 kills per set average. They have committed 365 miscues and have an attack percentage of .100. MSUB has 521 assists on the year for an 8.54 assist average. The Jackets have 83 service aces on the year with 88 service errors.
From a defensive standpoint, the Jackets have 826 digs for a 13.54 average and 35 solo blocks and 102 total blocks.
The Vikings enter the match second in the league standings and rank in the top three of just about every category. WWU is led by Emily Jepsen who leads the team and is ranked second in the league in kills with 131 and a 3.20 kill per set average. Jepsen leads the team in attack percentage at a .286 clip, ranking her third in the league. She also leads the team with 14 service aces. Marlayna Geary is second in kills with 115 (3.11) and has a .181 attack percentage. Kathryn Mertens is second on the team in attack percentage (.285) and third in kills with 86.
From the setting position, Kari Rice leads the way with 428 assists and she is second on the team in aces with 13. Her 10.7 assists per set ranks her second in the league.
Defensively, the Vikings are led by Allison Gotz who leads the team with 209 digs and a 5.1 average, ranking her third in the league. Jepsen leads the team in solo blocks with 12 and has a 1.15 block average which is tops in the league.
Western Washington owns a 9-0 record in the series and a 4-0 record in Bellingham with two neutral site wins. MSUB won just its second game in the series last year in Bellingham in a 3-1 defeat Nov. 14. Prior to that, WWU had won six-straight matches in straight-sets.
Simon Fraser won its first match of the season in five-set fashion over Alaska Fairbanks Sept. 25, in Fairbanks with a 20-25, 25-16, 25-23, 20-25, 15-11 win. The Clan then dropped a 3-1 decision at home to Western Washington last Saturday.
The Clan is led by Mariana Liarsky who leads the team with 117 kills and a 2.60 average. Second on the team in kills is KJ Fridfinnson who had 91 kills and leads the team with a .205 attack percentage. Jordan Drezet leads the team with 413 assists at a 9.18 clip. Brianna Kellough leads the team with 140 digs and Liarsky is second with 110. Fridfinnson and Cheryl Windhorst lead the team with 30 total kills each. Fridfinnson has four solo blocks to lead the way.
Simon Fraser has won the only two meetings previously in the series. The Clan won a 2-0 neutral site matchup in Spokane, Wash., Sept. 17, 1988, and then won in Burnaby, B.C., Oct. 9, 1998, 3-2.
Fans can access live stats and live streaming of both matches by logging on to www.msubsports.com and checking the volleyball schedule for the links.
