BILLINGS, Mont. – Montana State Billings dropped a cross-town volleyball match at Rocky Mountain College Monday evening, 3-0.  The Battlin' Bears won in straight-sets, 25-17, 25-20, 25-23, dropping the Yellowjackets to 5-22 on the year.  RMC improved to 22-6.

“Our defense serve/receive was good tonight, but when you have 31 hitting errors you are not going to win,” MSUB head coach Steve Smith said.  “I thought we did a great job defensively, but Rocky is a very good blocking team and we weren't very intelligent hitting tonight.  It was a step in the right direction as we continue to improve.  Our game against Western Washington was a step back, but Simon Fraser was an improvement.  Tonight we showed progress and we had good opportunities in games two and three, but we couldn't take care of the ball to come away with the win.”

The Jackets were led by 10 kills from senior Jennifer Boe and sophomore Jody Lutz.  Junior Brooke Tolman tallied a match-high 33 assists and freshman Adrienne Kelso led the way with a match-high 21 digs. 

MSUB had 38 kills on the evening, but committed 31 errors, matching Rocky's kill total.  The Jackets hit .053 on the night with 36 assists and 63 digs. 

The Battlin' Bears were led by eight kills from Jessica Overstreet who hit a match-high .353.  Ashley Welborn added seven kills.  Kristin Barott had 23 assists and Sara Brunner added 18 digs.

RMC hit .161 with 31 kills and 13 errors.  The Bears had 24 assists and 56 digs to go along with a match-high 13 total blocks, including five solo.  MSUB had two solo blocks and four total rejections.

Rocky jumped out to an early 6-2 lead in the first game as the Battlin' Bears were hot out of the gates.  The Yellowjackets continued to fight and were down 12-7, but RMC went on a run of 6-3 for an 18-10 lead.  Rocky went up 24-13 as the pesky Yellowjackets continued to fight and staved off four game points for a 24-17 score.  Rocky scored the winning point for a 25-17 first game.

The Jackets had 12 kills in the first set, but committed 14 miscues for a -0.042 attack percentage.  Conversely, RMC had just eight kills and committed two errors for a 0.176 average.  Boe had six kills in the opening set, while Tolman had 10 assists.

The second game saw the Yellowjackets came out with more vigor as they scored the first three points of the game, but RMC came back to regain the lead.  MSUB regained the lead on a thunderous kill from Boe for a 9-8 advantage and proceeded to swell the lead to 12-9. 

MSUB held an 18-12 lead when the Battlin' Bears roared back to cut the deficit to 18-16.  Rocky tied the set a 19.  The teams went for a long rally and a key block from Jillian Bates gave RMC the lead at 20-19.  A Yellowjacket miscue followed as the Jackets called timeout down 21-19.

Rocky scored the next three points for a 24-19 lead.  MSUB got a side out on a Lutz kill, but the Battlin' Bears came back with the winner for a 25-20 win.

The Jackets played better in the second set, hitting .121 with 13 kills, but committed nine errors.  Rocky had 10 kills with five errors for a .156 average.

MSUB jumped out to a 4-1 lead in the third set as freshman Adrienne Kelso had three serves in a row with an ace.  Rocky had the answer with a 5-1 run to follow for its first lead of the set.

From there, the teams basically traded points until the Yellowjackets opened a 10-8 lead on back-to-back kills from junior Melissa Porter. 

Rocky regained the lead on a service ace from Sara Brunner, 14-13, in the back-and-forth affair.  The Battlin' Bears opened a 19-15 lead on four-straight serves by Bates, forcing the Yellowjackets into a timeout.

A big kill from Porter cut the Yellowjacket deficit to 22-19.  Porter then was part of a rejection with Boe for a 22-20 deficit.  A Rocky miscue followed for a 23-21 lead followed by back-to-back errors on Rocky for a 23-23 score. 

A kill by Jamie Elenbaas gave Rocky match point and the serve.  Boe went up for an attack, but Rocky's Mercedes Langely and Bates came up with the game-winning block for a 25-23 win and a 3-0 victory.

MSUB returns to Alterowitz Gymnasium to close out the 2010 regular season Sat., Nov. 13, at 7 p.m. versus nationally ranked Seattle Pacific.  It is Senior Night for MSUB as it will honor Boe prior to the match as the lone senior.